Such a racket! Stars, teens pound away at US Open

[September 05, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Miffed at a miss, Mardy Fish held the racket right in front of his face and spit through the strings. Still stewing, he took a swing at his equipment bag and wound up for another whack.

"I was just so frustrated," he said early Thursday after his quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal.

He's hardly the only one making such a racket at this U.S. Open.

Andy Roddick was among a dozen players fined $500 apiece for such abuse. Novak Djokovic and even sweet Lindsay Davenport launched 'em. Nikolay Davydenko broke four in one match and almost ran out.

Then there was Chris Harrison.

He slung so many rackets during a first-round loss that a tennis official was dispatched to Harrison's court with a message: Stop! You're damaging the signs of the corporate sponsors!

Oh, by the way -- Harrison is 14, and was playing in the junior event.

"People say they want more personality in tennis, and that throwing the racket shows personality," said Wayne Bryan, whose twins sons will play for the men's doubles title. "I think it shows a lack of self-control."

"I don't like seeing the racket leaving the hand. Sure, there were times when Mike and Bob were boys that we had to take away the rackets. It happens with 8-year-olds. "But you don't want to see it here. Do you think it's the first time they've done it?"

David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro and Marat Safin also got fined at this tournament. They certainly didn't show the decorum of Roger Federer -- funny thing, he flashed quite a temper as a teen and was known for tossing rackets.

Lots of them.

"Obviously, you don't want rackets flying," U.S. Open tournament referee Brian Earley said. "You don't want anything dangerous, where they come near someone and a player is pushing the envelope."

"But you have a little leeway and you want the chair umpire to use his or her discretion," he said.

Players can be warned, docked a point or penalized an entire game for wrecking their rackets. Roddick doesn't like that code of conduct rule -- he wouldn't, because he's earned a reputation for cracking, crumpling and crushing them.

Earlier in this tournament, he took a full windup and mangled the frame.

"If a guy wants to break a bat in the dugout, he doesn't get warned. It's not hurting anyone," Roddick said. "If it's affecting your opponent, then that's probably disrespectful, then keep it out of there. But it's my racket, not anybody else's."

Muller and Davydenko both threw their rackets this week. In the same match, on the same point.

When Davydenko's final shot hit the net and plopped back onto his side, he spiked his into the ground. Muller, penalized in a previous match for abuse, joyfully flung his into the stands.

"Now go home, no rackets," Davydenko said.

There is no limit on how many rackets a player can take onto the court. Andre Agassi once brought 24 for a match at the French Open, racket expert Roman Prokes recalled

Djokovic drew whistles and boos after he threw his racket this week. He slammed one last year during a loss to Federer in the final, and a small piece broke off -- it was quarter-sized string dampener, designed to reduce vibration, and was decorated with a yellow smiley face.

Djokovic seems to have a firm grasp on the art of throwing rackets. Tossed down their handles or edges, they usually stay intact; pounded at an angle or given a full, frontal smash, they often snap.

Glen Flint understands rackets, whether they cost $50 or $200, be they made of graphite, carbon, titanium or Kevlar. He's a racket stringer at the U.S. Open, working in a room near the entrance to center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

He also travels the tour with Roddick. Yet Flint insists he never winces when tennis' A-Rod goes wild.

"If crushing that racket clears your mind," Flint said, "go for it."

[Associated Press; By BEN WALKER]

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