11 Shortest Fuses in Tennis History

Andy Roddick is no longer the best player in America, and as his fast serve seems to slow down, his challenge for the most bad tempered player around gathers pace.  

He's not the only one either.  Tennis has provided us with some incredibly short-tempered people over the years.  Here's a run down of the worst offenders.

11. Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick has not had the greatest season, and is no longer the US number one. He's also advancing in years, with his powerful serve dwindling as he ages.

His ranking number may be getting higher, but his tolerance for others is getting lower. A simple question about retirement gets to Roddick and he loses his temper.

The reporter was lucky not to get a mouthful of abuse, and instead Roddick stormed off like a child. That man has one short fuse.

10. Jimmy Connors

This might be a long video, but it's worth it just to see Jimmy Connors flip out on more than one occasion.

Connors was, and I suppose still is, famous for his ranting and arguing on court. This one is perhaps his most famous.  The man with one of the shortest fuses ever to play tennis really showed it at the US Open in 1991.

9. Andy Roddick

We can all remember this one: the infamous Andy Roddick foot fault.

A correct call from the line judge, although she did get her feet mixed up a little. Roddick went of the boil. The call ignited his short fuse, and shortly after, he was sent crashing from the tournament.

A calmer man would have just moved on and won the match.

8. Serena Williams

Serena Williams started out as an innocent teenager on the tour. As she has grown up, she's also grown a temper. 

This outburst at the US Open, where she threatened to shove a ball down the throat of a line judge, got her in hot water.  A year later, and it happens again, this time Williams picked out the chair umpire, giving her a mouthful of abuse.

If things are going well, then Serena is fine. When things go against her, all hell breaks lose.

7. Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick once again showed his worst side at the US Open in 2011. After a lot of rain, Roddick started his match against David Ferrer.

The court was damaged and water was seeping onto the court. Whilst Ferrer acted responsibly like an adult, Roddick spat out his dummy and had a tantrum.

6. John McEnroe

It just isn't possible to talk about short fuses in tennis without mentioning John McEnroe. The man argued with everything, losing his temper most of the time.

His tantrums became the stuff of legend, with this outburst at Wimbledon being the most famous.

If I'm honest, I'll use any excuse to show this video, I love it.

5. Andy Roddick

At least on this occasion he isn't being aggressive towards another person.

Whilst he seems to have lost it completely, at least Roddick had the self control to check if he already had a warning before smashing up his chair.

4. Fernando Gonzalez

Fernando Gonzalez has one of the biggest forehands in the men's game.  He doesn't just use it to hit winners though—it seems he spends more time using it to smash his rackets into the floor.

Just a quick Internet search will bring up endless videos of Gonzalez smashing expensive rackets for no real reason, but I like this one!

3. Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick doesn't discriminate. He's lost it with the press, he's lost it with officials, even with his own racket. This one here completes the set.

Roddick loses his temper after losing a point and takes it out on the ball, smashing it into the stands. If that wasn't enough, he tries to argue with the umpire for good measure.

I've watched this a hundred times, and not once does it look like a gentle lob into the crowd.

2. Marat Safin

We've all seen tennis stars freak out, smashing a racket when they lose a vital point, but Marat Safin took it to the next level.

His regular racket smashing antics earned him a place on the list, but this video of him in practice is why he is so high up.

Calm down Marat, it's only practice.

1. Andy Roddick

This time Roddick is going wild at the Australian Open back in 2008.

His short fuse was lit early in the match and eventually it blew, leaving the poor umpire to take a whole lot of abuse.

I think there are few people who would disagree, Andy Roddick has the shortest fuse in tennis.