© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
World famous tennis star Andy Roddick is suing the Miracle Match Foundation, claiming the tennis charity did not pay him a $100,000 appearance fee for an exhibition match he played in September in Connecticut.
Roddick and his company Andy R. Inc. filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Dallas County. He also sued WKP Sports and Entertainment LLC and WKP Sports & Entertainment Co. – the companies that were hired to manage Miracle Match’s fundraising and charitable events.
Dallas commercial litigator Brian Colao of Dykema Gossett is representing Roddick in the lawsuit. Fellow Dykema attorney Chais Sweat is also involved.
Colao has represented a handful of professional athletes during his career, including famous professional golfer Phil Mickelson, various NFL players as well as professional sports management company Gaylord Sports Management.
Colao said the lawsuit was filed in Dallas County because there was a contractual provision that required the case to be in Dallas.
Roddick made his appearance on Sept. 14, 2012 at the event, Match For a Cure, a couple weeks after he announced his retirement from professional tennis at the US Open, and a week after his retirement became official when he lost to Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the fourth round of the grand-slam tournament.
The $100,000 fee was also supposed to cover a meet-and-greet that Roddick attended with the sponsors after the match.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants said they would not announce that Roddick would be at the event until he was paid. Roddick received two $50,000 checks from the companies a week before the exhibition, but both checks bounced three days after the event.
Roddick claims that information promoting the event and his image is still on Miracle Match’s website.
“He fully performed his end of the bargain,” said Colao. “He showed up and made an appearance at the event and he wasn’t paid.”
The complaint says that Roddick has “made numerous attempts to collect the money from the Defendants” and “upon information and belief, neither Defendant WKP I nor Miracle Match have ever intended to compensate Plaintiffs for the participation of Roddick in the exhibition tennis match, despite contracting with same for said services.”
The lawsuit also states that on or around Jan. 23, WKP “was dissolved upon filing a Certificate of Dissolution with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.”
According to Colao, the other side has not made an appearance in court yet, so at this point the legal counsel for the defendants is unknown.
The other party could not immediately be reached for comment.
Roddick, who resides in Austin, seeks actual and punitive damages for breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment, theft and fraudulent transfer.
In the exhibition match, Roddick’s opponent was famous tennis player Bill Pryzbysz, the founder of the Miracle Match Foundation. Pryzbysz established the foundation in 1997 in Grand Rapids, Mich. when he was diagnosed with leukemia. The foundation strives to benefit individuals and their families challenged with stem cell related disorders. Match for a Cure benefitted the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and the Miracle Math Foundation.
Roddick himself is known for being heavily involved in charity as well. In 2000, he founded the Andy Roddick Foundation, which has raised more than $11 million to fund programs that enhance educational and economic opportunities for thousands of children in the U.S.
In light of his retirement, Roddick is focusing his attentions on the foundation and the new Roddick Tennis & Learning Center in East Austin.
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