Roddick blasts organisers for keeping covers wet

Andy Roddick hit out at French Open organisers on Saturday after he became the biggest male casualty of this year's tournament.

Andy Roddick experiences Paris pain.

Sixth seed Roddick suffered a crushing third-round defeat to World No 114 Teimuraz Gabashvili, who completed an embarrassingly-straightforward 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory in just one hour 56 minutes on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

Three-time Wimbledon runner-up Roddick is not a fan of Roland Garros' notoriously-slow second showcourt, having lost five matches in a row on it.

But it was not being scheduled on Suzanne Lenglen which infuriated the American.

Instead, he was angry with the way court covers are allowed to stay wet at the back of the court at Roland Garros, a gripe which saw him involved in several tense exchanges with the umpire.

He said: "They dry the whole court, but then they leave the tarps soaking wet. "If a ball rolls through a puddle enough times, can you tell me what happens to it? Then when clay attaches to it, it doesn't get lighter.

"It's something that I've been pretty adamant about complaining about behind closed doors for a long time, you know. The umpire said too me, 'Well, it happens every year'. I'm going, 'Is that supposed to make me feel better?' I didn't understand that logic."

There is no love lost between Roddick and Suzanne Lenglen but despite being askedu00a0 repeatedly about the court, he said: "It's a fun court as far as people viewing, and I have no issue with it.

"It's just the way that it plays doesn't really help me out much. That's all. That's fine.

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