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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Tour reforms: Blake, Roddick upset with Federer and Nadal

Rome: James Blake and Andy Roddick have taken exception to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's defence of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Last month, Federer and Nadal held a press conference in Monte Carlo to declare that the ATP is moving too fast with its plan to restructure the 2009 calendar.

The ATP wants to trim the Masters schedule from nine to eight tournaments by cutting Monte Carlo and Hamburg, and adding Shanghai.

``I agree the tour does need to listen to its players but I think we need to do that behind closed doors instead of just airing it out in front of everyone,'' Blake said.

No Masters status

Both Monte Carlo and Hamburg, which like Rome are two of the main clay-court warm-up events for the French Open, would remain on the tour but no longer with Masters status. They are both suing the ATP.

``If it gets to a desperate situation then maybe we have to use the media and get your point out that way,'' Blake said. ``But I really don't think we're at that desperation point yet, especially since we're dealing with the 2009 calendar.''

Important tournaments

The Masters Series events are the most important tournaments on the men's tour apart from the four Grand Slams.

Federer, Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo are among the players who have signed a petition opposing the ATP reform proposals.

``Some players, including myself, don't have the same education and background as some of these tour managers or player representatives, or the board members that have the job to do that,'' Blake said.

``We have to trust them because we've elected them. We have to voice our opinions, there's nothing wrong with that, but we also have to understand that some people might have better ideas and better business savvy,'' he added.

Smart guy

Blake spent two years at Harvard before turning professional. ``James is very important for us because he's a very smart guy,'' Federer said.

``He thinks about something very clearly before he says it. It's important that we all agree to a point. We talk a lot and I agree that it should be done internally in the end.''

Neither Blake nor Roddick played at Monte Carlo this year.

``What no one is talking about is the finances of it,'' Roddick said. ``This is not a knock on (Monte Carlo). The tournament is amazing, they run it great, the players love it. It's the most beautiful stadium we have.

``But if you get 70,000 people a week in Monte Carlo and then if you have a place like Cincinnati, it may be a little further out and a lot of Europeans don't like going there, but if the attendance is 180,000 and you're looking at it as a business model and who brings in the most revenue, when it's time to make cuts, that person is going to get cut.''

Roddick said ATP president Etienne de Villiers was in ``an unenviable position.''

``When no changes are made in tennis everybody screams, then when changes start being made everybody screams,'' Roddick said. — AP

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