The Big Lead

A billionaire entered a pro tennis match; Andy Roddick was not amused

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's presence in a doubles match was met with swift derision: 'the biggest joke I’ve ever watched in professional tennis'

By J.P. Hoornstra

Andy Roddick waves to the crowd after his match against Juan Martin Del Potro on day 10 of the 2012 US Open at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Del Potro won 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Sept. 5, 2012.
Andy Roddick waves to the crowd after his match against Juan Martin Del Potro on day 10 of the 2012 US Open at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Del Potro won 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Sept. 5, 2012. / Susan Mullane-Imagn Images
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Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman competed in a professional doubles tennis match at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. on Wednesday.

Suffice it to say, no one was left clamoring for more.

That includes Ackman himself.

"Throughout the match, my wrist, arm and body literally froze with the expected negative outcomes," Ackman wrote on his Twitter/X account Thursday. "I had difficulty breathing, and it was not a fitness issue. It got a bit better as the match progressed, but I was not able to overcome it."

The tennis community was less interested in critiquing the performance of Ackman, the 59-year-old CEO of Pershing Square Holdings, than his mere presence alongside doubles partner Jack Sock.

“This was the biggest joke I’ve ever watched in professional tennis,” Roddick said on his podcast, Served. “There was exactly one person on that court trying as hard as they could.”

“It looked like four players were in the bag,” Roddick added.

The 2003 men's U.S. Open champion wasn't alone in his criticism of Ackman.

"I’ve never gotten sick while playing a tennis match before in my life, but now I can say that I almost got sick watching a tennis match," wrote Randy Walker of World Tennis magazine.

USA Today's Dan Wolken called Ackman's "wild card" entry a “mockery of pro tennis.”

Ackman and Sock lost to Australia’s Omar Jasika and Bernard Tomic, 6-1, 7-5. 

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