Andy Roddick makes feelings known on Reilly Opelka's controversial doubles tennis criticism

Andy Roddick recently spoke up about Reilly Opelka's controversial and divisive remarks on doubles tennis. The former No. 1 laid bare his affinity for "characters" like Opelka in tennis, even though he did admit that he himself doesn't always agree with his younger compatriot's opinions.

Opelka has never been much of a fan of doubles, and has stirred controversy with past comments on the category. He was at it again recently as he issued a damning reply to a comment on Instagram earlier this month ridiculing doubles tennis amid noise about the US Open's decision to radically revamp its mixed doubles format in a perceived bid to draw more fans to the category.

"They should 100% get rid of dubs. It’s for failed singles players, there’s no such thing as a ‘doubles specialist’… they don’t sell a single ticket, they take up practice courts/physios/resources, they don’t turn a profit and they complain that they don’t make enough $$. That’s pretty greedy behavior if you ask me," Opelka wrote.

Reilly Opelka also mockingly promoted doubles tennis by sharing a Story featuring a child cheering for a doubles match while watching it on TV. However, the TV screen featured a still from a doubles match with almost completely empty stands. Opelka captioned the post:

"#watchmoredoubles"

While Opelka's outspoken views have drawn rebuttals from doubles icon Rohan Bopanna and others who specialize in the category, former singles stalwart Andy Roddick refused to be overly critical of his compatriot. On a recently released episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the 2003 US Open champion said:

"Listen, Reilly Opelka, love him or hate him, you rarely have to wonder what he's thinking and he's certainly not scared to tell you what he's thinking. So, regardless of if you agree with the opinion, I kind of like characters like Reilly, who will just say what they're thinking. But I disagree with him on some of the stuff he says but you don't wonder what he's thinking."

Roddick himself infamously faced criticism from a doubles player's coach after the latter perceived the American's comments to be 'disrespectful.'

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Andy Roddick was slammed over "nonsense false narrative" last year by a Grand Slam-winning doubles player's coach

Andy Roddick (Source: Getty)

In July last year, Calvin Betton, who successfully coached Henry Patten to the 2024 Wimbledon men's doubles title alongside Harri Heliovaara, lashed out at Roddick. Betton's criticism stemmed from a conversation Roddick had with tennis insider Jon Wertheim on an episode of the Served With Andy Roddick podcast.

The conversation was about how Patte and Heliovaara were once a Wimbledon data analyst and an airport worker respectively but eventually went on to achieve Grand Slam success in doubles. Roddick made a tongue-in-cheek comment suggesting that he himself should have pursued an education in mathematics instead of investing in rigorous training for his tennis career from an early age.

Betton took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:

"You tried to make the point that doubles is rubbish because a data analyst and an airport worker can win a Wimbledon title. It’s a nonsense false narrative, it’s disrespectful to them, it’s disrespectful to your listeners, and it’s disrespectful to the lads they beat in the final."

Interestingly, at the 2024 Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event, a faster men's doubles format was trialled, where teams were allowed only 15 seconds instead of 25 between points and rallies up to three shots. Teams were also given just 60-second sit-downs during changeovers. Doubles icon Matthew Ebden was appreciative of the move, citing the format's facilitation of more free-flowing play instead of dead time.