Andy Roddick on Rublev’s self-harm incidents: “At what point do we give warnings?”

Andy Roddick shared his thoughts on Andrey Rublev's recent outburst at the Paris Masters, where the Russian vented his frustration while playing against World No. 29 Francisco Cerúndolo. Rublev lost a close match, 6-7(6), 6-7(5), exiting the tournament in his opening round.

During the first set, after losing a point in the tie-break, the 27-year-old tennis player repeatedly hit himself on the knee with his racket, striking it seven times, which caused a cut on his leg and left him bleeding. His frustration didn’t end there, as he later threw a bottle forcefully onto the ground during a changeover.

Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick discussed Rublev’s on-court outbursts and the frequent warnings he has received. “Can we have, like, ‘We’re not hitting ourselves’ as an option? Because, obviously, if you could break your racket on the deck, you would do that, but I just feel like breaking a racket on a court is a way lesser of evil than, like, self-harm out there, right?” mentioned the American on his podcast Served with Roddick.

“At what point do you have to give them warnings? Do you have to penalize them for this? Because this behavior, you know, it’s being seen by younger players, it’s being seen by... and I know not everybody wants to be a sports role model or should be required to be, but at some point it is a bit ridiculous, right?”

Roddick defended that Rublev’s on-court attitude is a way of coping with frustration during matches, emphasizing that he doesn’t behave the same way off-court: “We can’t say it enough, that Rublev is someone that everyone likes, respects on Tour. It’s not like he has this behavior in the locker room; he’s beloved on Tour. But also, the thing that’s a little concerning is the frequency with which we see it,” Roddick commented.