Tennis legend Andy Roddick has slammed the ATP as ‘painfully stupid’ after Reilly Opelka was punished by the organisation for wearing a hat at a trophy presentation.
Opelka secured the third ATP title of his career on Sunday, as he saw off fellow American Jenson Brooksby 7-6, 7-6 to win the Dallas Open final.
The world No. 20 put in a remarkable performance to see off Brooksby, after picking up an impressive 16 aces compared to his opponent’s two on the way to his straight sets victory.
However, his win in Dallas was tainted by an ATP ruling during his trophy presentation.
The American wore his cap while collecting his trophy on Sunday and it did not go down well with tennis chiefs.
As well as being handed his Dallas Open trophy, Opelka was also handed a sanction by the ATP for keeping his hat on during the presentation.
The 24-year-old was clearly unhappy with the punishment, and took to Twitter to share a picture of his sanctioning form along with the caption: “Too good @atptour.”
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The form showed that the Dallas Open champ had ‘violated the ATP Tour Code of Conduct’ with the offence code section outlined as ‘headgear worn during awards ceremony’.
Following his upload to social media, Opelka received support from one of his nation’s greatest players in Roddick, who took aim at the ATP following the decision.
He quote tweeted the 24-year-old’s post and wrote: “This is painfully stupid policy by the ATP.”
In reply to the 2003 US Open champion, ESPN journalist Gustavo Faldon asked Roddick: “Ridiculous from ATP.
“I think you were wearing a hat on basically all your titles. Did you ever get fined?”
To which the American remarkably replied: “Not once. Didn’t even know it was a rule.
“Maybe it’s changed since I stopped but it’s a really dumb/useless rule.”
Opelka himself then took a dig at the organisation, more specifically chairman Don Gaudenzi.
As a result, the American was asked by a fan how long it would take Gaudenzi to ask him to delete the tweet, to which the 24-year-old replied: “He's too busy not taking salary cuts while players still are.”
