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Monday, July 06, 2009

Serena Williams and Andy Roddick: A Tale of Two Americans


This week’s Wally(ess) of the Week is the graceless Serena Williams (pictured above), who marked her success at Wimbledon not by praising opponents, but by big-headedly making fun of the world rankings system which make the Russian Dinara Safina world number one.

What a contrast to the sporting behaviour of another American tennis player- defeated mens’ finalist Andy Roddick.
After playing his heart out in yesterday’s epic four-hour 16 minute mens’ final- Roddick said: “I just want to say congratulations to Roger. He’s a true champion and he deserves everything he gets”.

Roddick didn't complain about the sun in his eyes, poor line calls, or anything else-he simply paid a warm tribute to the tennis legend who had beaten him.

As the Daily Mail reports, Roddick’s pluck and humility won over the Wimbledon crowd.

And although Roddick didn’t win the trophy, I think this gallant performer- and great sportsman- has come out of Wimbledon with much more credit than Serena Williams.

2 comments:

olching said...

True, Roddick is a true gentleman. I hadn't thought of the contrast with Serena (who had a point about the rankings system, but as you say, greatness means not to talk about it), but more about the contrast with Murray who walked off the court without waiting for Roddick.

As I said, Roddick is one of the true gentlemen of tennis, perhaps even of sport in general (and Venus is very sporting, just to defend one of the Williams sisters!).

Neil Clark said...

hi olching,
totally agreed. I thought Murray walking off without waiting for Roddick was very poor sportsmanship.