The latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ is in.
Weather, however, is an uncontrollable element of the game—whereas alcohol consumption and stadium rowdiness is not.
“The fans are f*ing losing their minds, booing people, talking about their mothers,” Roddick said. “David Goffin who, again, is like one of the quietest people on tour is pissed, everyone’s pissed, Jon. What the hell is going on over there?”
Roddick took the player perspective and Wertheim the journalists’, and the two debated the tournament’s solution of banning alcohol in stadiums after fans were getting too rowdy.
“We want tennis to be fan friendly, we want fans to be engaged,” Wertheim said. “We don’t want people sitting on their hands, we don’t want golf claps and boring people with luxury suites with their back to the action, but we have some very rambunctious fans, and the response has been rather interesting.”
“I’m not sure an alcohol ban in the seats is necessarily the way to address this. Look, I don’t want to see anyone in physical danger, but what do we love about college tennis? The fans are on top of the action, they’re yelling, they’re booing, they’re saying things about your mother. I mean it’s easy for me to say, I’m not the object of this hostility. If there’s a physical issue it’s a totally different conversation, but if fans are cheering and saying mean things, I kind of like that atmosphere.”