Billionaire Bill Ackman’s wildcard entry into a professional tennis tournament at the Tennis Hall of Fame ended in swift defeat Wednesday, drawing sharp criticism from fans and officials who questioned whether he had earned his spot on the court—including former professional tennis player Andy Roddick, who called the game “the biggest joke I’ve ever watched in professional tennis.”
Bill Ackman, chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, takes a break during ... More
Roddick, who was ranked the No. 1 tennis player in 2003, spoke about Ackman’s debut on his podcast, “Served with Andy Roddick,” where he called the match “a total miss” and said it is “gonna be under review” because it appeared the winning full-time tour pros were not giving the match their full effort.
“It was a disaster,” Roddick said, of the match—Ackman and his partner Jack Sock lost6-1, 7-5 to Australians Omar Jasika and Bernard Tomic—saying Ackman appeared to be the only one giving it a full effort, saying one of the players was hitting soft, 50-mph serves, and adding, “This was beneath the Hall of Fame.”
Ackman, meanwhile, called the match a “humbling experience” on a Thursday X post, saying it gave him his “first real experience with stage fright” and that it gave him more respect for the professional players who “play for a living in front of the cameras and the crowds.”
He announced his wildcard selection on X last Wednesday, writing that the retired former Grand Slam doubles winner Sock listed him as his doubles partner at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island—he also said he was “pretty sure” he would be “the oldest person in tennis history,” at 59 years old, to win Association of Tennis Professionals points.
The Hall of Fame Open is a competitive ATP tournament Challenger series event held on grass courts, with participants selected based on ATP rankings, wildcards entries and qualifiers.
Sock, 32, who retired from professional tennis in 2023 to pursue a career in pickleball, was given a wildcard for the Newport event and added Ackman, a longtime tennis lover, as his partner (players can select anyone as their partner, regardless of status).
Social media users mocked Ackman after he and Sock lost, and an op-ed published in USA Today slammed Ackman’s entry as a “mockery of pro tennis,” blasting Sock for giving “no indication that he’s planning a comeback” and Ackman because “you can’t find results” on him “in any of the public tennis databases kept by the USTA.” Randy Walker, the director for the Vero Beach Futures tennis tournament—an International Tennis Federation tournament—took to X after the match to post, “I just watched the absolute worst professional tennis match I have ever seen.”
A wildcard is a special entry granted by tournament organizers that allows a player to enter the main draw or qualifying rounds without meeting the usual ranking or qualification criteria. They are typically given to former top players, promising young players, local players or players with promotional value.
Walker, who has served as the tournament director for Vero Beach Futures since 2017, said on X that he wanted to “provide some commentary” and insights on the Newport match, but that he was “too sick to my stomach over it to do so right now.” Earlier on Wednesday, Walker slammed Ackman for not “earning” his wildcard, referencing 53-year-old James Bragg, who was given a wildcard into the USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Vero Beach after winning a doubles event in 2023. Walker has also criticized Ackman on X for saying he would be “the oldest person in tennis history at 59 to win ATP points,” pointing to Gardnar Mulloy, who “earned” his ATP ranking at 64 at a Grand Prix event played in North Miami, Florida, in 1978.