Former world No 1 ‘1000% disagrees’ with Stefanos Tsitsipas’ ‘ridiculous’ ATP Finals comment
Andy Roddick is the latest person to dismiss Stefanos Tsitsipas’ claim that the ATP Finals is “bigger” than a Grand Slam.
Tsitsipas was one of the eight players who qualified for this year’s end-of-season extravaganza in Turin and ahead of the tournament he proudly stated that the prestige of the event outweighs that of the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.
“It’s a whole celebration. The ATP Finals is a commemoration and celebration of the best of the best in our sport,” he told the official ATP website.
The Greek added: “It means a lot. I would consider it probably a bigger thing than a Slam, honestly. It has big prestige and it’s a very valuable asset if you’re able to conquer and win it.”
Reigning world No 3 Daniil Medvedev was then asked for his views on the matter and the 2021 US Open champion gave a well-measured response as to why – in his opinion – a Slam is “a bigger thing”.
“I’d say a Slam. For me, it’s harder because of five sets. Yes, you face only top 10 players at year-end championships, from the very first match, but still, you need to win five matches [at the Finals] and not seven [like at the Grand Slams],” he said.
And now another former world No 1 in Roddick has also chimed in with his comments coming on the back of Tsitsipas’ withdrawal from the ATP Finals due to injury.
American Roddick also felt Tsitispas – who played only three games against Holger Rune before retiring with a back injury – would have been better off skipping this year’s tournament because of his recent injury woes.
“I know he said something ridiculous this week about how this is bigger than a Slam if you win it. I 1000% fully disagree and I don’t even think he believes what he said but I would’ve had an eye on next year, especially if you’re nursing multiple injuries,” he told Tennis Channel during an interview.
“And then if you kind of sweeten the pot with, ‘Listen if I don’t play it gives someone else on Tour, that I have to see throughout the year, a look at the basket and to be able to get in.’ You want his team to kind of be able to speak up there maybe a little bit louder.”
He added: “My opinion is that, if your elbow is beat up, if your back is beat up and you’re down a match already, you’ve got to start thinking about January.
“Listen, he made the finals in Australia last year, he’s always played well down there. So if I’m in his team I’m going, ‘Listen is the juice worth the squeeze for this tournament especially as we look forward to next year.’ I probably would’ve leaned towards no, we’ve got to make sure we’re healthy.”
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