Tennis
Roddick 'wrong' in umpire clash
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-21 13:57
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MELBOURNE: Andy Roddick admitted he was wrong in his clash with the chair umpire over his ruling on a match point after he marched into the third round at the Australian Open yesterday.
The straight-shooting American finished his 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci by arguing with umpire Fergus Murphy over a Hawkeye video review decision which went against him on the first of his two match points.
The video review ruled a Bellucci volley had fractionally clipped the line saving the first match point but Roddick contended he wasn't allowed to play the shot by an out-call from a line judge.
"There was just a disagreement about a rule on a continuation of a call," Roddick said. "To be fair, I didn't come in here (press conference) until I watched the video of it. I was more wrong than I thought I was out on court.
"That being said, it was very close. To take away a match point at that juncture in a match, it's a big call."
Roddick said his beef was that the out-call came after he had let the ball pass.
"I thought I was going to be a 100 percent right. It's definitely closer than I felt it was while I was on court."
Roddick said it was part of his nature to challenge what he feels is not right.
"I don't do it for entertainment. I do it because I strongly believe what I feel," he said.
"That's not just on the court. I think if I believe in something strongly enough, I'm pretty outspoken about it."
But despite his initial rush of blood, Roddick said the adjudication technology was fair.
"It definitely puts less pressure on them (umpires) as far as having to stick your neck out there," he said. "But I'm still a fan of Hawkeye because there's always going to be some judgment calls. That's like my match today, where they have a split second to make a very important call."
AFP
