Andre Agassi blasts ATP

WASHINGTON, July 18: Andre Agassi blasted the ATP Tour and called for a major leadership overhaul, echoing other top players in a call for ...

WASHINGTON, July 18: Andre Agassi blasted the ATP Tour and called for a major leadership overhaul, echoing other top players in a call for fewer tournaments and a revised ranking system.

“Something has got to be done for the game,” Agassi said. “It’s easy to say what the problems are. The trouble is solving it. One thing I think the ATP has proven is they can’t solve it.”

Agassi, ranked 31st, ripped the ATP after a loss here in his first match after two-and-a-half month lay off, falling to 6-7 for the year.

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“(Tennis) needs to change the entire structure. It needs an off-season. It needs a ranking change. It needs to get people who know what the hell they are doing to be quite honest.”

Agassi wants every result to count in rankings rather than the best 14 in a 12-month span. He also wants fewer tournaments and a longer off-season.“There is just no sense with it all,” Agassi said.

“One tournament is going on in Asia. Another is in Spain and they are different surfaces. It needs to be weeded down. Unfortunately that is going to cost some people their jobs.”

A new ranking plan under consideration would use results in Grand Slams and a second-tier of seven events as the base for ratings with other events counting less. Winning lots of lesser events would help little.