Former world No 1 slams ‘ridiculous’ Paris 2024 singles alternate saga

Andy Roddick in 2023
Andy Roddick has slammed the Paris 2024 withdrawal situation.

Andy Roddick has slammed the “ridiculous” and “dumb” situation of doubles players ending up playing Olympic singles amid a spate of withdrawals from Paris 2024.

The tennis event in Paris has been decimated by an unprecedented volume of players pulling out, particularly in the men’s singles competition.

Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur have both pulled out of their singles campaigns on Sunday, with world No 1 Jannik Sinner, Andy Murray, and Hubert Hurkacz among those to withdraw previously.

The women’s singles event has not been as badly affected but there have still been multiple withdrawals, with third seed Elena Rybakina pulling out shortly before the draw was made, and Anhelina Kalinina withdrawing on Sunday.

Olympic rules mean there are few alternates available on-site, meaning doubles specialists have now been placed into the draw.

Matt Ebden, Francisco Cabral, and Petros Tsitsipas – all unranked singles players – have found themselves in the singles draw.

Australian Ebden was beaten 6-0, 6-1 by Novak Djokovic in 54 minutes on Saturday, leading to the world No 2 calling for a change in rules.

“There were a lot of singles players that had plenty of time, that were alternates, that could have been called to come,” Djokovic commented.

“I really hope the ITF (International Tennis Federation) along with the Olympics will consider changing this rule.”

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And now making a similar call is 2003 US Open champion Roddick, with the two-time Olympian slamming the “ridiculous” situation in a post on Twitter/X.

He wrote: “The Olympics singles alternate situation is ridiculous. Players that don’t even/can’t play singles at highest level getting the call is dumb.”

When questioned about what change he would make, he further stated: “Allow qualified onsite alternates for singles.”

Among those to back Roddick was former world No 4 Brad Gilbert, who has not travelled to Paris but is the current coach of world No 2 and women’s singles second seed Coco Gauff.

Gilbert even went as far to suggest that there should be penalties for those who have withdrawn from the event late on.

He replied: “ridiculous to not have at least a couple of alternates on site, also way to many late pullouts after the draw [sic] made, should face some sort of penalty.”

Tournament organisers will be hoping that round one of action can be completed without any further withdrawals taking place.

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