FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Times change. Thirty years ago Vic Braden — then a beloved popularizer — bemoaned the state of a game where rude and rowdy (expletives not deleted) rants were commonplace. “The sport, he insisted, should be X-rated. Going to a tennis match is like going to the World Wrestling Federation.
Three decades years later, Andy Roddick says tennis has become too buttoned up, that players can’t express themselves. After being accessed a point penalty for bashing a ball high into the stands in Cincinnati, he explained, “It’s stupid…I mean, in football, if someone throws a helmet on the sideline, it’s their helmet. We wonder where we lose our ratings battles to the WWE, ‘Monday Night Raw.’”
He continued, noting that John McEnroe “is still getting endorsements because he was allowed to throw [expletive]. I understand where [the umpire] is coming from but at a certain point, you hit a tennis ball into a stadium, someone goes home with a souvenir, and it pretty much ruins the match from there. Seems counterproductive.”
The incident drew much comment. McEnroe said, “Everyone wants to see emotion, I believe. I don’t think there’s a person out there, a fan who doesn’t want to see that. They want to see the player giving their ultimate effort and feel what it means for that person to be out there on the court.” Mary Carillo countered, “I don’t seem to be as entertained by bad form as other people are. I’m very entertained watching Tsonga play his brand of tennis, and Federer play his, and Nadal and Djokovic. I don’t need jawing between the player and the umpire and bad form and curing and throwing rackets. That, to me, is not what I really came for.”
In New York, Inside Tennis and others pressed Roddick on the issue:
Q: Again tonight we saw what a great game tennis is. There’s so much emotion. Many have said that the rules bottle up emotions too much. Do you think the Code of Conduct, when it comes to no harm fouls, should be loosened up so players can show?
AR: It’s the only sport I know where you can break your own stuff and get penalized for it. If you take your shoe and throw it and break it, what happens to you?
Q: I’m pissed off.
AR: You’re out of a shoe, but it doesn’t really affect anyone else. If you’re hurting someone, or someone is in harm’s way, you know…If you took a poll of who would want to see someone go mental and hit something into the stands or something, people would probably vote for that.
Q: So you think [it’s okay] to loosen up the code of conduct to allow players to show their feelings, the fans would connect, and the game would be more popular?
AR: Let’s put it this way: McEnroe is still getting endorsements and he’s 87 years old, so…what does that tell you? Love it or hate it, but watch it.
Q: Where then is the line [in this?]
AR: If you’re saying something at the umpire, I can certainly understand…I’ve certainly been verbally abusive to umpires in my career. I think they should be able to handle you for that. If you do that in the NBA to an official, you get penalized., like most other sports…I’m purely looking at this from a business standpoint, not trying to justify my own actions by any means. Let’s not get that confused.
Q: Do you think there should be a Code of Conduct for fans during your matches?
AR: Listen, they pay to come watch our game. It is up to the official to make that judgment. At the end of the day we are entertainment. We are a business. The reason that we play a game for stupid amounts of money is because of the guy yelling who has had too many beers in the stands. So I understand the scope of it. So the last thing I’m ever going to do is criticize our paying fans.
Q: You brought up the ‘Monday Night Raw’ thing. Do you remember two or three years ago when Youzhny was hitting himself in the head.
AR: How good was that? Youzhny has never been so famous. Like Pacquiao, millions of hits. No.
Q: At what does the chair umpire say to him…
AR: Warning for hitting yourself in the head. You just concussed yourself and you get a warning.
Q: Tennis is not ‘Monday Night Raw.’
AR: Really?
Q: Or maybe it is.
AR: Well, it’s not. What’s the point?
Q: Basically at what point does the umpire to say to Youzhny if he’s bleeding all over his face, I know you’re hurting yourself, but maybe you should calm it down a bit?
AR: Listen, I have no issue if the umpire wants to punch himself in the head. I might encourage it. I mean, the guy hit himself in the head. What are you going to do? Give him a warning? It’s not going to change anything. You give him a warning, he’s not going to do anything else.
Q: Should there be less severe punishment if you’re just mad at yourself?
AR: If you’re disrespectful to your opponent, that’s a different issue. If you’re disrespectful directly to the umpire, instead of saying to myself, You suck. I look at him and I say, ‘You suck.’ He or she is at liberty to do what they want.
Q: That’s what I mean, complaining about a line call as opposed to bad shots. Is there separation?
AR: I think so. You’re only doing damage to yourself. You get a warning on top of that? If anything, it’s a disadvantage to your opponent if the umpire plays a part in you keeping composed. He should let you fall off the wagon. If I see some guy going mental, the umpire is like, No, no, no, warning. I’m like, No, let him go. Let him fall all the way off.
Q: You sound like a hockey referee.
AR: I’m just saying. I don’t want him to play a part in the guy keeping it together.
Q: Was there an overreaction to John and Jimmy, that whole era?
AR: Listen, I don’t know the process of it. I’m just saying, I feel like we’re the only sport where we’re talking about this. I’m not doing end zone dances. We’re not on that level. You like watching the end zone dances, am I wrong?
Q: I love them.
AR: Okay, so there you go.
