Roddick contrite after boorish rant fails to pay off
By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Andy Roddick said his petulant rant over a foot fault in his second round loss to Serb Janko Tipsarevic at the U.S. Open on Wednesday was a desperate stab at gamesmanship that failed to pay off.
Roddick kicked up a fuss when foot-faulted at 5-2 down in the third set, and berated the lineswoman for telling him his right foot was at fault, when it was his left that had touched the line.
"Not once in my entire career has my right foot gone ahead of my left foot," the 28-year-old American shouted at her.
"Why don't you get some umpires that know what they're doing?" he directed at the chair.
"What is this, call 1-800-RENT-A-REF?"
Roddick continued to ridicule the official even as he walked off at the end of the set to change his tennis shorts.
The 2003 U.S. Open champion later said that he was just trying to shift the tide.
"I was down 5-2 in the third (set) already," Roddick told reporters after his 3-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 defeat. "If anything, it kind of shifted the energy a little bit." Continued...
