"Tough to consider them legitimate if they win this whole thing" - Andy Roddick questions Team Canada's inclusion at the Davis Cup Finals after losing in qualifying earlier this year
Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick has questioned Canada's inclusion in the Davis Cup finals in the aftermath of the team qualifying for the quarterfinal stage. Canada was able to qualify after Felix Auger Aliassime stunned US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 on Friday night in Group B of Davis Cup 2022, helping them win the tie against Spain 2-1.
Earlier during the Davis Cup 2022 qualifiers, Canada lost to the Netherlands 4-0 at The Hague in March. However, they were allowed to re-enter the tournament when Russia was banned from the competition due to their invasion of Ukraine.
On Monday, Roddick openly wondered how a team can qualify despite losing in the same event. The American wrote a host of tweets on his account to question the qualifying criteria in the Davis Cup.
"Canada was given a wildcard into this round after losing to qualify for this stage ….. tough to consider them legitimate if they win this whole thing," Roddick wrote.
@Tennis @DavisCupFinals @felixtennis Canada was given a wildcard into this round after losing to qualify for this stage ….. tough to consider them legitimate if they win this whole thing tenniscanada.com/news/canada-de…
When one Canadian fan questioned Andy Roddick on whether all wildcard players were not legitimate, the American pointed out that it isn't customary to get wildcards in events that a player or team has already lost their tie in.
"Yes. Not in a tournament they’ve already lost in. People don’t typically get a wildcard into the third round of an event that they’ve already lost in the first round of," Andy Roddick stated in his tweet.
@DenniseP101 @Tennis @DavisCupFinals @felixtennis Yes. Not in a tournament they’ve already lost in. People don’t typically get a wildcard into the third round of an event that they’ve already lost in the first round of.
"Could be any team with the same circumstances, I actually love watching Felix play" - Andy Roddick
Twitter users didn't take too well to Andy Roddick's criticism of the Davis Cup format and the inclusion of Canadians. Some of them even claimed that the American had a bias against Canadians.
However, Roddick refuted the allegations and stated that he loved watching Felix Auger-Aliassime play. The former US Open champion also claimed he would've pointed out the inconsistency even if any other team was involved in the same situation.
"Definitely not," Roddick replied. "Could be any team with the same circumstances. I actually love watching Felix play and he comes off as a really good dude. More knowing how many tough losses we took in DCup before we won it. Just seems off."
@GCampbellll @Tennis @DavisCupFinals @felixtennis Definitely not. Could be any team w same circumstance. I actually love watching Felix play and he comes off as a really good dude. More knowing how many tough losses we took in DCup before we won it. Just seems off.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has been in decent form lately, and has a 37-22 record in the ongoing season. The Canadian Davis Cup team will play in the quarterfinals of the event in Malaga from 22-27 November.
Also check out:- Davis Cup 2022 Schedule