Todd Woodbridge Says Davis Cup Tie in Chennai is Irresponsible

Australia’s most capped Davis Cup player has accused the International Tennis Federation of being irresponsible for insisting the May 8-10 Davis Cup match against India go ahead as planned in Chennai.

Todd Woodbridge, who helped Australia win the Davis Cup and played in a national-record 32 matches, said the ITF shouldn’t expect the match to go ahead in Chennai when other international sports events were being canceled or moved abroad due to regional tensions.

“The main thing right now in India is that there are elections underway — there’s been deaths because of these elections in other parts of India, not in Chennai where this tie will be played,” Woodbridge told Fairfax Radio on Wednesday. “But how can we expect our team to go and play in India when everybody else in that region is pulling out?

“I think it’s irresponsible for the ITF to expect us as players to go there and put ourselves on the line in a very, very difficult predicament with the way their social system’s running.”