Andy Roddick Disagrees with Critics’ Call for Best-of-Five WTA Grand Slam Format: “There Are Things Women Go Through That Men Don’t”

Andy Roddick is not at all a fan of the idea that women should play five-setters from the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam events.

Andy Roddick Disagrees with Critics’ Call for Best-of-Five WTA Grand Slam Format: “There Are Things Women Go Through That Men Don’t”

Andy Roddick (Image via #AusOpen)

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Former ATP player Andy Roddick, during the latest episode of his Served podcast, made his feelings clear on the introduction of the best-of-five format in WTA Grand Slam events. The argument stems from the fact that women are playing three-setters in Grand Slam events and are earning the same prize money as ATP players.

In some WTA and ATP events, the men and women players get the same prize money, and in some, the distribution is unequal. When there is a discussion about equal pay, the staunch critics argue that women don’t play the best-of-five in the Majors, but are getting the same prize money.

They also believe that men playing five-setters are working a lot harder than the women. Now, some think women playing five-setters from the quarterfinals of Majors is the best way to solve this problem and to make WTA matches more competitive.

Roddick doesn’t think so, as he is not at all a fan of this proposed format. Along with this, Roddick also talked about the thing that women go through every month: menstruation, which can bring a lot more other problems if the players deal with it during tournaments.

I don’t like starting a tournament one way and then changing the entire dynamic of the tournament at a panic. There are things that women go through, and most likely, a lot of them are going through at some point over the course of a two-week event that men don’t have to go through. So very simply, that gets left out of every argument, and rolling the dice on when that happens is insane.

Roddick also believes that if everyone plays best of five, matches can get suspended. Because instead of a two-week event, Grand Slams will last for five weeks.

Andy Roddick on withdrawals of top players from the Canadian Open

Top players, one after the other, are withdrawing from the Canadian Open, which is scheduled to start on July 28. WTA World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has pulled out, and so has men’s World No.1 Jannik Sinner.

Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka
Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, The Tennis Letter)

Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play the Montreal Masters for the first time in seven years, but he too has decided to skip it. There was confusion over Carlos Alcaraz‘s situation, given that his agents stated that he would be playing.

But Alcaraz himself announced later on social media that he indeed needs more time for rest and recovery. Andy Roddick, who has often criticized the hectic 11-month tennis calendar, said the trend of top players withdrawing from these tournaments will continue if the schedule doesn’t change. He said on his Served podcast:

And it’s going to be like a learned. I mean, the trend seems to be the people that play in Roland Garros, that play deep in Wimbledon, need a soft landing. They need a rest before getting into the last half of the year. And what’s going to go? It’s that first 12 days that you’re demanding of my time, where I actually need that 12 days to get ready for the tournament.

These aforementioned players, who made deep runs at the French Open and Wimbledon, are expected to arrive in Cincinnati to kick-start their campaign in the United States. The second Masters 1000 event of the North American hard-court swing is scheduled to start on August 5.

Sabalenka and Sinner will aim to defend their titles as well as defend their US Open crown. Last year, Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula in both the Cincinnati and the US Open final. Sinner beat Frances Tiafoe in Cincinnati and Taylor Fritz at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic and Alcaraz suffered early exits at the US Open.

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