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Struggling To Cope
The American joins Britain's Andy Murray in criticising the punishing schedules that the world's top players have to make do with.
Tennis betting pundits note how both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had to pull out of the Shanghai Masters this month, as Murray surged to victory and moved up the world rankings to third.
And Roddick says the issue has nothing to do with money – it is simply a case of the players growing concerned about burn-out.
“I don't think we're storming offices, but the sentiment is there,” the former Wimbledon finalist said.
Speaking after beating Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun 6-2 3-6 6-2 in the first round in China, he added: “People have to understand, people act like we pull out [of tournaments] and we get something [payment] out of it.
“We don't get anything. They [Djokovic and Federer] are out of the bonus pool now. They don't get their money this week.
“Obviously, if they were feeling well and they weren't worn down, then they would [play]. We're not getting away with anything by pulling out of tournaments.
“I feel like that's the way it's presented sometimes. That's just not the case.”
The issue of workload has been raised on several occasions in the past, and is sure to come up many times again with those discussing tennis bets and the sport in general.
The ATP claim they have looked into reducing the physical pressures on players, and say they have managed to cut two weeks out of the 2012 schedule.
But with the demand for all the top players to play right across the globe, there is little room for manoeuvre, with players accepting it to generally just part of the job.