Ion Tiriac, who is the nearest thing in tennis to Don King, has blasted Federer for not playing his Madrid event. See my blog below, Masters of nothing and you will get the picture. His various quotes are classic Tiriac – unthoughtout, shooting-from-the-hip nonsense. You can see what I mean:<br /><a target=_new href=”http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/113250/1/.html”>Here</a> and <a target=_new href=”http://sport.guardian.co.uk/tennis/story/0,10069,1336057,00.html”>here</a><br /><br />So, big Ion is pissed off. But suggesting that players be deducted prizemoney for no-shows is frankly silly. His comparison that Schumacher doesn’t stop racing after winning the Championship is redundant. Schu us contracted to Ferrari to enter each race. Federer is NOT contracted to the ATP to play every event. <br /><br />But the Madrid event will be remembered for the ballgirl-models fiasco. If Tiriac hadn’t so comprehensively shot himself in the foot with that sub-porno stunt, then a few more people might take his views seriously.