‘I’d Ask Him to Define ‘Nobody’ – Andy Roddick Comes Out in Strong Defense of Elina Svitolina After Russian Tennis President’s Latest Comment

Andy Roddick has been the voice of tennis for some time now. The 39-year-old American retired from tennis in the year 2012. However, the former world number 1 is pretty active on social media and keeps giving his reaction to the trending topics related to the sport.

Recently, he shared his opinion on the statement given by the president of the currently suspended Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev. Shamil has recently said that Elina Svitolina is a nobody.

Andy Roddick slams Tarpischev

Elina Svitolina has been pretty vocal about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Also, she has welcomed the decision of Wimbledon to ban Russian players from competing in the tournament this year.

However, the president of the Russian Tennis Federation has not taken kindly to her words. Reacting to her stance, Shamil called her an absolute nobody. Also, he thanked the players who extended their support to Russian players and criticized the ban imposed by Wimbledon.

Responding to the comment made by Shamil on Elina, the former world number one Andy Roddick took to Twitter to remind Shamil about Elina’s achievements and compared them to what Shamil himself achieved as a player.

https://twitter.com/andyroddick/status/1525110319680475136?s=20&t=kU5Yui649pHXfBhCCrrbTg

Certainly, with the comparison, Roddick has cheekily reminded Shamil of his achievements as a tennis player.

Roddick Suggests Rule Change for Penalties in Tennis

Andy Roddick recently suggested a football-like penalty rollover rule in tennis as well. In the rising cases of players getting on-court coaching, which is strictly not allowed in the sport. Roddick, like many other tennis fans, finds the punishment for the rule-breaking very lenient, which has given the players and their coaches opportunities to exploit the rule.

Taking to the microblogging site, Andy tweeted about his own personal take on this situation. He insisted on tweaking some rules a little to make them more effective.

“I think tennis should be like soccer. You should carry over some penalties throughout the tournament. Coaching penalties are an obvious candidate for rollover.” Roddick tweeted.

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Although Roddick did not name any specific player,fans are assuming it to be the Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas. He has been accused of courtside coaching by his father frequently.