‘F*king a*hole’: Vasek Pospisil rants about ATP Tour chair en route first round ouster in Miami – Sports News , Firstpost

Vasek Pospisil ranted about the ATP Tour chairman in his loss in Miami. AFP

Vasek Pospisil’s anger boiled over in a foul-mouthed rant referencing ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi Wednesday as the Canadian went down in three sets in the first round of the Miami Open.

American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald advanced with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Pospisil, who swatted a ball out of court, smashed a racket and incurred a verbal abuse point penalty on set point of the opening set.

Asked during a changeover by umpire Arnaud Gabas what the problem was, 67th-ranked Pospisil unleashed a tirade focused on Gaudenzi.

“For an hour-and-a-half yesterday, chair of the ATP… screaming at me in a player meeting for trying to unite the players,” Pospisil said.

“For an hour and a half. The leader of the ATP. Get him out here. Why am I supporting this?”

Pospisil pic.twitter.com/fq4AjEm38V

— Lee S (@underarm_ace) March 24, 2021

Pospisil was a key figure along with world number one Novak Djokovic in launching the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) last year, a body they said they hope will give players a greater voice in the sport.

Pospisil pulled himself together to win the second set, but McDonald, ranked 120th in the world, bounced back to seal the match and set up a second-round meeting with 18th-seeded American John Isner.

Isner is another player who has called for an economic overhaul in the sport, branding the ATP a “broken system” in February after it was revealed the pandemic-hit Miami Open – an elite Masters 1000 event for the ATP – had cut prize money for singles winners from $1.35 million in 2019 to just over $300,000 this year.