FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Andy Roddick has made it clear that he’s less than pleased with some of the recent commentary coming from the broadcast booth. After his primetime first-round win over Michael Russell, Roddick aired his frustrations during a post-match chat with ESPN’s Chris Fowler, telling him, “I’m pretty convinced that I could be a tennis analyst when I’m done. It just doesn’t take much thought.” Then, following his second-round win over got-next American Jack Sock, he told reporters, “One day I can’t play tennis; one day I’m underappreciated, you know, whatever.”
According to sources, Roddick and a few of his American counterparts, James Blake included, aren’t happy with, among others, John McEnroe‘s at-times critical on-air commentary. They simply feel it’s too negative, regardless of the fact that it’s coming from a seven-time Slam titlist.
“If we all listen to one or two matches, we know which commentators are negative and which are going to be a little more positive. It’s just frustrating to hear [someone] beating down players who are the best in the world,” said Blake, who was bounced from the U.S. Open draw on Friday by Spaniard David Ferrer in the second round 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. “I think Andy Roddick said it best that being a tennis analyst might be the easiest job in the world. You just say that they’re doing something wrong. [But] I know air-time needs to be filled.”
The beef with McEnroe may stem from comments about Roddick’s wife, model/actress Brooklyn Decker, earlier this summer, when the Hall of Famer appeared to single out Decker as a distraction. “Now people are trying harder against this guy because they see vulnerability…He is someone who is happy off the court, but it can have the opposite affect on the court. If you’re married to an actress, it takes some energy — I should know,” said McEnroe, whose ex-wife is actress Tatum O’Neal. “You have to make some decisions if you don’t want to be away from each other.”
Mardy Fish was among those who took exception to McEnroe’s statements. At Wimbledon, Roddick’s onetime roommate said, “I think it’s completely unwarranted. It’s not a great comment to talk about wives. You should probably stay away from the wives. I mean, I love Brooklyn. I love them to death, so I’ll stick up for them, especially when it comes from a place, you know, that might not know the ins and outs of their relationship. I know them as well as I know anybody, so that’s tough to take.”
“It’s comical at times,” said Blake, whose comeback from injury has taken him to No. 63. “We hear it. We’re not sitting there watching our matches, but we’ve got friends who are watching us. We know what people say. With me, it’s I’m too aggressive, I’m going for too much, I need to be safer. With Andy, he’s too safe. He needs to go for more, he needs to go for broke, he needs to come in. Meanwhile, throughout most of his career, being effective, everyone said, ‘He’s playing so smart, he’s playing so solid.’ When my shots are going in and I’m beating top guys who I would never beat by playing safe, they say, ‘Now he’s playing safe.’ ‘Controlled aggression’ was a great term I loved, because when my shots go in, it’s controlled aggression. When they miss, it’s always, ‘He’s going for too much.’ Any commentator who’s never been on a practice court with me more than a couple of days at a time, who’s never been at Saddlebrook training, who’s never seen what me and Brian Barker did for many, many years, trying to play it safe and trying to do the things they say to do and realizing that it’s ineffective, that I don’t have the skill-set to do that. I’ve practiced with Andy numerous times. I’ve seen his skill-set, I’ve seen what he does, how he plays, how he thinks and what he does. He does the best he can to win. To criticize someone like Andy, who’s been No. 1 in the world, won a Grand Slam, I think 30 titles, I mean, we’re doing our best. To expect more is just greedy.”
“For people to say we should be doing this, we should be doing that — man, it’s easy in the booth,” added Blake. “Man, it’s easy when I watch matches that I should have done this, I should have done that. But when you’re facing David Ferrer and he’s running down every ball you hit, you’re going to go for a little more. When Andy’s playing guys like Mike Russell who he thinks he can outlast and grind down, he’s going to do that. He’s going to do everything he can to win. He doesn’t care if it’s ugly. I don’t care if I win ugly. We’re trying to win. Between us, we’ve got a few wins — probably 600, 700 wins between us. We’re doing our best. I never thought I’d have people criticizing me for not being good enough when I’ve gotten to No. 4 in the world. I laugh at it. With Andy, the guy’s been No. 1 in the world and he’s still being criticized for not knowing how to play the game. The guy knows how to play the game. He knows what to do best…I appreciate some of the commentators who are positive, because there are so many positive things about our sport. But there are so many things that people don’t understand. In every sport, the people who are involved in it know what’s right and what’s wrong. They can see it. But casual fans who are watching — they take everything that’s said on the air as gospel. Sometimes it’s just so negative. That disappoints me so much about commentators.”
Many analysts felt that Blake, a top-10 regular between 2006 and 2008, should have sought a coaching change when his ranking began to slide, moving away from longtime mentor Barker and retooling his go-for-broke game under the guidance of a new voice. Blake eventually did part ways with Barker, hiring Kelly Jones in Sept. 2009, but he clearly didn’t appreciate the unsolicited advice.
“I know a lot of commentators used to rip Brian Barker and I don’t remember any of them coming and asking him questions, asking him how he turned an 11-year-old brat who was five-foot-nothing, 80 pounds, [who] had no chance of making it, no backhand, no temperament, nothing really going for him, a crooked back, bad knees, and turned him into the No. 4 players in the world,” he said. “And they’re still going to criticize him as a bad coach and say I’m doing things wrong?”
