Andy Roddick torn over ditching ‘unique’ tennis tradition after Wimbledon final
Andy Roddick is torn over whether or not a long-held tennis tradition should be left alone, tweaked, or scrapped following the women’s Wimbledon final.
Linda Noskova won her first Grand Slam title after beating fellow Czech Karolina Muchova in Saturday’s final in a topsy-turvy 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 encounter on Centre Court.
The 21-year-old was 6-2 5-2 up before the ninth seed got white line fever and promptly lost five games in a row. Noskova managed to rediscover her composure, and one hour and 20 minutes after her first match point, she served it out and then fell to the turf in celebration.
An understandably dejected Muchova then had to give her runner-up speech, which is never an easy thing. While the 29-year-old’s words were well received, it was a real effort for her.
She said on court, “It’s really tough to find any words. But I’ll start with Linda, my ex-friend. I’m kidding, obviously, kind of. You’re so young. This was your first final of a Slam.
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“The way you handled it and how you played was really unbelievable. Beyond this all you’re especially a very kind person and human being. Congratulations to you and your team. You deserve it.”
Muchova also shed some tears, addressed her nearest and dearest in her player’s box, congratulated her opponent and her team, thanked the officials, the ball kids, the sponsors and more.
This was, arguably, the biggest match of her life, perhaps eclipsing the 2023 French Open final, so to lose in a match where she was, arguably, favourite will be extra tough to take.
No other high-profile sport like tennis requires the runner-up to speak to thousands of fans immediately after their defeat. As a result, former US Open champion Roddick sparked debate over whether these speeches are still necessary.
He said on the latest episode of Served, “I’ve been against it publicly before, and also like someone made a good point. That’s what makes tennis unique. And I’m going, ‘Okay, that’s a great point’. I don’t know that I have a fully baked opinion of it.
“My wife is like, ‘Why do you make them do this?’ And then, I don’t know, it is unique. I guess now I’m kind of always looking for ways to tell the story how tennis is totally differentiated from other sports.
“And this is a small thing, and it may not be that important, and it may not add enough to the story to kind of put someone out there where the last thing they wanna do on earth is have to talk in front of people at that moment and talk about their feelings and all that.
“But I’ve like never turned the channel when someone’s giving a runner-up speech. Like, I never have. I’m more attached to her journey now because she did it, you know? So I don’t like that they have to do it. Sometimes it’s brutal. And when the right note is hit, I think it really lands and encourages fandom of said person.”
Roddick mused whether players should be given an option to do the runner-up speech or not, and added that it “doesn’t mean you’re not going to do press”.
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