Santoro vs Roddick last point question (10 points)?

Question

Ok so if you saw the last point where Santoro was just standing there and motioned for Roddick to hit the ace, you know what im talking about. At first i laughed at it, but then i thought that Santoro was just being a bad sport about the aces Roddick was hitting (especially the 140 one right before where he almost got hit!) So my question to you guys is what do you think? Would you just shrug it out as an understandable reaction for Roddicks amazing play or do you find it unsportsmanlike? Even with all the talk with Federer being considered a poor sport, im sure he would have never done this.

Answer 1

No, no, noo - you interpreted it correctly the first time, that's Santoro's style. Santoro isn't a bad sport at all, he gives credit to his opponents, that's just his playing style. He's kind of a chill, joker guy and he only did that to get a few laughs since he knew it was over.

Other instances of him being silly on the court:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-VolX8dt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTxYVgCNz...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezdfb9l_5...

He's just kidding around :)

Answer 2

I agree with the guy who said that Santoro was angry at Roddick for the previous serve. People who keep saying Santoro is a great sportsman or whatever don't seem to understand that Santoro's entire playing style is made to throw off the other player and possibly make them angry. He likes to act and make things dramatic and I don't think that's sportsmanlike. He's called for the trainer for questionable injuries almost every 5 set match I've seen of his.

So I think he was angry with Roddick and my opinion of Santoro declined a bit. Roddick wasn't trying to hit him, and as a professional tennis player you shouldn't be worried about being hit by a body serve. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get hit by a body serve, and even if they were they shouldn't get mad because they have enough time to get out of the way. Body serves are an important serve and will be used, they have to deal with it.

All this said, I really love to watch Santoro and he is one of my favorite players, he just acted poorly in this match and it is a pity for him to go out like that. And where did you hear about Federer being a poor sport? I've never heard anyone call him a poor sport in my life and if you think he is you don't watch enough tennis. He's the classiest guy on the tour in my opinion.

Answer 3

if it was any other player i would have my doubts but santoro has a great sportsmanship and he's a really funny guy he's known for that, so i guess he thought there was no point in trying to return andy's serve 'cause it was already 40-0 and he knew andy was gonna try to end the match with an ace, so he just let him do it, i don't know why he did that  'cause it seemed like he was giving up

i felt a little sad for fabrice at the end of the match (i was really happy that andy won, don't get me wrong) but santoro looked so sad that i couldn't help to feel a little sorry for him, he's a great player and always entertaining to watch

Answer 4

I'm guessing you all watched it on USA, but I watched it on an international ESPN channel with Mats Wilander as one of the commentators. They took a completely different stance, and I agreed with them. If you saw the body serve on the second-to-last point, it almost decapitated Santoro; you might have caught a glimpse of him awkwardly trying to get out of the way of the ball's trajectory. The next point I found very surprising, and somewhat disappointing, because Santoro's not that kind of guy. He just gave Roddick the last point because he was angry at Roddick's body serve. I'm sure Roddick didn't mean to hit the ball that close to his head, but it really got to Santoro. It was relieving that he shook hands at the net. You could see Andy apologizing at the net but Santoro didn't seem to buy it. It was a shame that Santoro's last Grand Slam match had to end that way.  

Answer 5

Unsportsmanlike? A bit, yes. At the same time Roddick's previous serve was a bit too close for comfort. [Not saying it was purposeful because I don't believe it was.] Bottom line: Santoro definitely could have handled the situation better by at least pretending he was going to play the point, but I don't think there were any bad feelings there.

Answer 6

i would say that its understandable reaction because he probably knew he wasnt gonna get it back. and santoro isnt the player known for unsportsmanlike, so i dont think that he was trying to be unsportmanlike.

Answer 7

It's completely unsportsmanlike, and I can't believe he got away with it! He totally obliterated any chance for Roddick to rejoice in his easy win; when Roddick should have been jumping up and down with joy, he instead had to apologize to Santoro because the big baby took it personal when Roddick nearly hit him. I know from experience that, when you're going up against someone who has a huge serve, you have to watch out! And if I had Roddick's serve, I would probably hit it directly at my opponent every time if that makes it unreturnable.

Anyway, as you can tell, I'm pissed that Santoro got away with acting so childish, and I'm glad he's out of the Open so early. It seems like there's been a lot of immature and ungentlemanly behavior lately, and I hope it ends here.

Answer 8

He probably meant it as a joke. He's not the type of guy who gets angry easily. Roddick only needs the 1 point to win the match so he just gave it away. His will to fight and actually win the match is probably gone.