Andy Roddick says that tennis needs to loosen its Code of Conduct rules in order to gain more popularity. Roddick threw his racket and nailed a ball into the stands in Cincinnati during the third set of his 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 loss to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
“There’s a reason that Monday Night Raw gets better ratings than we do," Roddick said at the U.S. Open. “[Tennis] is the only thing I know where you can break your own stuff and get penalized for it. If you're hurting someone, or someone is in harm's way, you know, I think if you took a poll of who would want to see someone go mental and hit something into the stands or something, I mean, people would probably vote for that. Let's put it this way: [John] McEnroe is still getting endorsements and he's 87 years old, so...I mean, what does that tell you? Love it or hate it, but watch it."
Roddick believes that he should be held to task if he verbally abuses an official, but does not think that players should be corralled if they are only involved in self-flagellation. In 2008 at the tournament in Miami, Mikhail Youhzny smashed his racket on his head three times until blood ran off his his forehand down past his nose. Roddick thought it added value to the sport and said that the player who is not melting down loses an advantage if an official steps in.
“How good was that?,” he said of the Miami incident. "Youzhny has never been so famous. Like [boxer Manny] Pacquiao, millions of [You Tube] hits. 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? 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."