Hotel fire forces evacuation of Italian Open tennis players

Hotel fire forces evacuation of Italian Open tennis players From staff and wire reports

ROME — Play begins Monday at the Italian Open in Rome, but Andy Roddick has already had more drama off the court than he could possibly match on it. Saturday morning, a deadly fire broke out at the Parco dei Principi hotel he was staying in and accounts say the world's No. 2 player was heroic, working with firefighters to help save lives.

Marat Safin, Max Mirnyi, Tommy Haas and Paradorn Srichaphan were among 30 players escaping the hotel without injury.

Mirnyi was seen covering himself with a blanket outside the hotel in the early morning cold, wearing only shorts.

While no players were hurt, a Canadian couple died from smoke inhalation and an American died when he fell trying to escape the flames by tying together pillowcases and trying to scale his way down.

"Roddick helped people onto the roof," said Nicola Arzani, communications director in Rome for the ATP. "Several of the players had a real fright."

According to The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, which spoke to Roddick's mother Blanche from the family's home in Florida, Roddick woke up at 5 a.m. to a burning smell, then opened his hotel room door to find black smoke and people fighting for fresh air. Roddick, 21, pulled about a dozen people into his suite and helped them onto the balcony.

From floors above, people were jumping onto Roddick's terrace. Sjeng Schalken, a 6-foot-4 tennis player from the Netherlands, dropped into Roddick's open arms after jumping from a floor above. None of the players was injured, said Nicola Arzani, communications director for the ATP Tour.

Police took two American women, 24 and 25, in for questioning because the blaze started in their room, but said they were being treated as witnesses, not suspects.

The Italian Open starts Monday, and nearly all the affected players had to rearrange their practice schedules, Arzani said.

Source: www.usatoday.com