Andy Roddick explains his meltdown during the third set of his loss to Phillip Kohlschreiber in Cincinnati and said he does not have high expectations for the U.S. Open. With the loss, Roddick will fall out of the Top 20 for the first time since 2001.
Roddick received a point penalty for hitting a ball out of the stands before a break point at 0-1 in the third set, and therefore was broken to 0-2. Roddick then argued with chair umpire Carlos Bernardes.
"I certainly accept what I did. I put him in a bad situation out there," Roddick said. "I was just disappointed. Equal parts mad and also disappointed in myself. My team also, we’ve been trying to get back…It’s essentially a long uphill battle. So I was pretty mad at myself… But I do think it's stupid in tennis that—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 WWF, Monday Night Raw. John McEnroe, the guy is still getting endorsements because he was allowed to throw [stuff]. I understand where he's 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. At a certain point, I would love it if we got out of our own way."
When asked how he felt about his drop in the rankings, former No. 1 Roddick, who has been injured on and off for two years now, said: "It would bother me if I felt like everything was where I wanted it to be and these results were coming. Obviously I don't like it. But if I told you that that was the first thing I thought of every day when I woke up I would be lying to you. …You don't get credit for being [in the Top 10]. You only the get credit for not being there."
Roddick will play the new tournament in Winston-Salem next week and then head to the U.S. Open, where he won the title in 2003 and reached the final in 2006. He has not reached the second week in the past two years.
"I'm not that concerned about New York right now," he said. "I got to get to Winston-Salem and try to get a couple matches. For me it's silly to think about New York yet. Obviously if I go and win Winston-Salem then it's a different ballgame, or final of Winston-Salem it's a different ballgame. So a lot can change in a matter of two weeks."