Andy Roddick is the biggest hero in sports this week. Too bad you won’t hear about it anywhere.

Roddick stepped up this week by withdrawing from the Dubai Tennis Championships, declining to defend his title, in support of Israeli women’s player Shahar Peer.

Peer was denied a visa by UAE authorities, citing security fears when she attempted to travel there for the WTA event in Dubai last week.

The WTA fined the organizers of the event $300,000 — the largest ever fine issued by the organization, and they financially compensated Peer for her lost potential earnings.

So in support of his fellow athlete, Roddick boycotted the tournament.

“I really didn’t agree with what went on over there,” Roddick was quoted as saying. “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 is getting support from Israel as well, as a columnist for the Jerusalem Post also praised Roddick’s move, even if it meant agreeing with Ehud Olmert.

Said Allon Sinai:

Roddick has set an example to us all by sacrificing personal gain for a higher value and he deserves all the praise in the world for showing once more that sports maintain their status as a platform for the promotion of positive social change.

Being a global sporting icon doesn’t just give you the right to a life of riches, but also comes with the responsibility of acting as a role model to the young and old alike.

Most athletes conveniently cast this notion aside, but thankfully there are still true sporting heroes likes Roddick around, who understand their role in the world and use their celebrity not just for their own benefit, but for the greater good.

While this story may not seem big in the United States, it is big in the rest of the world. Dubai kind of lives in their own little world, and more than likely, this little stunt is going to cost them sponsors at next year’s event. Dubai’s economy relies very heavily on tourism, and losing sponsors for an event like this will speak very loudly and clearly.

Roddick’s decision to boycott could be the push sponsors need to not return to this theocratic nation, which could in turn hurt their tourism and economy.

I’m not saying Andy Roddick took the first step towards crippling Dubai’s bound-to-fall-apart economy, but perhaps he did.

This story will be fun to look back on in five years, when we’re all asking “remember Dubai?”

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