MEMPHIS (AFP): America's Andy Roddick says he won't defend his title at the Dubai ATP tournament next week in protest at the UAE's refusal to grant a visa to Israel's Shahar Peer at the WTA event at the same venue.
"I really didn't agree with what went on over there," Roddick told Saturday's Los Angeles Times.
"I don't know if it's the best thing to mix politics and sports, and that was probably a big part of it."
Roddick's announcement is a blow to the sponsors of the Dubai event which has also been stripped, through injury, of world top two Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Roddick was speaking after beating his American compatriot Sam Querrey 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals at Memphis.
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