Pandy Andy

Andy complaining to the line judge.

It's that time of the year again....summer hits the final stretch, kids reluctantly return to school, baseball approaches the post-season, and Andy Roddick is eliminated from a grand slam tournament in an early round. I have never been a big fan of Roddick but last night's performance reminded me that this guy is nothing more than a big serve, a lot of hot air and no class. After being called for a foot fault Roddick proceeded to argue with the line judge and to throw sarcastic comments  her way and directed other mean-spirited comments about her to the chair umpire, who is also to blame for not chastising the obnoxious runt or giving him a warning. Instead, he had the line judge removed from the court. In other words, he took the easy way out. He was afraid to draw the ire of the blustery, infantile Roddick and punished the line judge for simply doing her job. How sad.

More disturbing is the the fact that Roddick's poor attitude seems to be representative of a growing trend at the US Open: US tennis stars throw tantrums over a call that went against them, and then are bounced from the tournament. Last year, it was Serena Williams putting on a shameless display of crassness and low education when she threatened a line judge for threatening a line judge. Last year, the chair  umpire and the tournament director maintained the foot fault against Serena Williams, which resulted in her loss to the classy Kim Clijsters. It is too bad that yesterday, the chair umpire didn't have the conviction or integrity to issue a warning to a pampered tennis player who happened to win the US Open so many years ago. Very sad.

Caroline Wozniacki

But there is hope for those of us who enjoy tennis. Caroline Wozniacki, the young Danish tennis star, has been graceful and gracious and her ever present smile and good cheer give me hope that the future of tennis will see a renaissance of good attitudes and class.

As the summer approaches its conclusion, I can't help but wonder (and hope) that the same thing will happen with Andy Roddick's  tennis career.