Roger Federer and Andy Roddick gave the ATP's controversial round-robin system a vote of no-confidence on Friday following the fiasco at last week's Las Vegas Open.
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA: Roger Federer and Andy Roddick gave the ATP's controversial round-robin system a vote of no-confidence on Friday following the fiasco at last week's Las Vegas Open.
ATP chief executive Etienne de Villiers had to apologise for not fully understanding the issues when he ruled American James Blake, rather than Russian Evgeny Korolev, should go into the Vegas quarter-finals at the end of the round-robin stage.
"I disagreed with it from the start," world number one Federer told reporters as he prepared for the second round of the men''s event at the Pacific Life Open.
"I knew that something like that was going to happen, with somebody pulling out. I''m not at all in favour of it."
The situation in Las Vegas was complicated by the fact that Blake had needed to beat Argentine Juan Martin del Potro with the loss of no more than five games to reach the last eight.
He was leading 6-1 3-1 when his opponent retired because of breathing problems, handing Blake a walkover.
The American was told he would not advance because the rules stated that games won or lost in a walkover did not count, but after officials consulted de Villiers the decision was reversed.
PROVOKED UPROAR
Korolev had beaten Blake in the round-robin stage, and the decision to put the American into the quarter-finals provoked uproar, with Russia''s Marat Safin and Australian Lleyton Hewitt leading the protests before Korolev was reinstated.
"I just thought there were too many problems with the whole system," Federer added. "Unfortunately it always takes a few players to be involved before everybody kind of wakes up.
"I think it's never going to happen but maybe one player helps out another player to get maybe the top guy out, who then eventually could win the whole tournament, the whole thing."
American Roddick, the world number three, agreed.
"Personally, I think we''ve seen the last of it," he said. "There's too much left to the players, whether it's a friend maybe dodging a game to let another one through or something else. I just think there are too many holes in it.
"It's a good example of why you can't look at tennis and treat it as a business because there are players involved and matches are won and lost.
"I think, and hope, we've seen the last of it."
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