By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, July 29, 2014

 

After hatching a plan to play U.S. Open doubles with Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick found that a drug testing technicality wouldn't allow it.

Photo Source: Cameron Spencer/ Getty

Speaking on his Fox Sports Live podcast, Andy Roddick told the story of how he’d decided to enter this year’s U.S. Open doubles draw with his good friend Mardy Fish only to be thwarted by a technicality in tennis’s drug testing policy.

Roddick wanted to fulfill a lifelong dream that he and Fish had had since high school, and he also wanted to provide Fish, 32, with a stepping stone back to the ATP Tour—or, at the very least, a proper send off.

“He deserves it,” said Roddick of Fish. Fish's last competitive match resulted in a mid-match retirement last year in Winston-Salem. The former world No. 7 has struggled with heart issues for two years, and is currently ranked 524. “He deserves a proper last memory if it is that, and if not maybe it would have been a springboard into playing more singles and kind of getting back into tennis.”

Fish green-lighted the plan to pursue a U.S. Open wild card last week, but after Roddick put in a call into his friend and USTA Public Relations Director Tim Curry, the former U.S. Open champion was told via email by U.S. Open referee Brian Earley that a regulation exists that requires unretiring players to enter tennis’s drug testing program three months before they return to competitive tennis.

Roddick says he was miffed because he was told that filling out his retirement papers was the right thing to do, but it turns out that he would have been exempt from this regulation had he remained active in the ATP’s computer.

“What a lot of these guys do is just let their ranking fall off,” said Roddick, “so John McEnroe for instance has never retired from tennis, and if he wanted to go play the U.S. Open next week on a wild card, he could. But since I actually did what they wanted me to do (filing retirement papers officially), I am not eligible for a U.S. Open wild card.”

He added: "Listen, if I'm going to do performance-enhancing drugs and make a comeback, I promise you it's not going to be for one doubles tournament at the U.S. Open."

According to Roddick, the right channels are not available to appeal the ruling.

“We tried to file an appeal," he added. "The powers that be—the ITF, the ATP, USTA, WADA—pretty much everyone has said no go, not negotiable, ain’t gonna happen, so that idea is in the past, which just sucks.”

“I would have had fun watching [Mardy] get the attention that he deserves for his career and for the struggle that he’s had the last couple of years,” said Roddick. “We tried our best, it’s not going to happen at this point.”

You can hear the whole podcast here (start at around 24:00 to hear Roddick's rant).