Australian tennis players Bernard Tomic and Omar Jasika have been involved in a controversial Challenger Tour doubles match against billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.
The American 59-year-old was handed a wildcard to play in the doubles alongside former world no.8 Jack Sock at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport.
With Ackman having never played a professional tennis match before, Tomic and Jasika cruised to victory 6-1 7-5 but appeared to be not applying their full effort, particularly in the second set.
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However, the match drew strong criticism from several tennis voices, including Andy Roddick, who claimed on his podcast Served that it was “the biggest joke I have ever watched in professional tennis.”
Most of the controversy has stemmed out of the fact Ackman received a wildcard to play in the event, which denied a professional player an opportunity to continue building their career.
Roddick said: “It [the game] was a disaster…. This was beneath the Hall of Fame, in my opinion. It’s nothing personal against Bill Ackman, he can do what he wants. If his dream was to do it and someone’s gonna let him do it. I mean, it’s not his fault, I don’t blame him, right. Someone has to say yes to this…. It was rough.”
U.S. Open press officer Randy Walker stated on X: “I just watched the absolute worst professional tennis match I have ever seen….”
Tomic and Jasika will continue in the men’s doubles tournament at the Hall of Fame on Friday (AEST) against Blake Bayldon and Trey Hilderbrand.
