Roddick on proposed Player Relief Fund, COVID-19 vaccination shot

On Monday during Tennis Channel Live, Andy Roddick responded to the proposed ATP Player Relief Fund, which Novak Djokovic discussed on his Instagram Live session with Stan Wawrinka.

"The best ideas are going to be strongest when told by the leaders of our game, on the court, off the court. Novak, Rafa and Roger have always done that," Roddick said. I want to see the ink dry, the levels committed by the Slams. I think they account for 81 percent of the revenue in tennis, so they need to do their share in this proposal.

“It’s not as if the players are going to them and saying, 'hey, you fix it all yourselves.' We’re going to put up our own money. I was texting with Roger a couple days ago after I had read it. Based on ranking is great, but I said there should maybe be a move to look at the active list of prize money leaders. And maybe that would be a better accounting. So, someone like a Murray would be paying like a Top 5 player. I hope there’s a lane for former players to get involved, also."

The 2003 US Open champion also addressed Djokovic’s latest comments, when the Serbian said he would currently oppose being forced into taking a COVID-19 vaccination if it's required.

"I don’t have to agree with someone’s belief system to respect the fact that they have it. The bottom line is not whether or not he believes in vaccinations, it’s what safest to bring tennis to the forefront on a global stage. And that is going to be with testing that’s going to be with vaccination that’s going to let us get back to what we know as normal.

"So, again Novak said this himself. I don’t have to agree with his stance. He knows that he’s going to have a decision to make. I’ll be curious to see how deep his belief system runs if he’s gonna to sit out Grand Slams because he doesn’t want to take a vaccination shot."