By Robert Martin                                        Photo Credit: Mark Howard

(August 29, 2011) It is inevitable that players will eventually be labeled for their actions on court, and they are always open to interpretation, but there has to be a line drawn. Ryan Harrison is only 19 years of age, but he is quickly gaining a negative reputation for his attitude on court, and it simply needs to stop.

In recent losses to players like World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, and today to 27th-seeded Marin Cilic at the US Open, Harrison can be seen regularly screaming, throwing racquets, and just throwing a tantrum in general. While many will defend his actions as a “brash, young player” it has been escalating and showing a real immaturity that I doubt he will grow out of.

Of course, he is American and there will be plenty of defense for his actions saying things such as, “Marat Safin smashed racquets all the time and was loved.” While this is true, a major difference is that many people were completely unaware of Safin until his US Open win over Sampras in 2000.

There is no doubt that Safin had his moments of anger, and countless smashed racquets, but his outbursts were short lived with a quick throw, after which a sense of calm appeared to wash over the Russian. Some players are able to internalize their frustration with their own game, but Safin undoubtedly needed that release to play freely.

In comparison, Harrison acts a bit more like another American known for his tantrums, Andy Roddick, who not only will scream and smash racquets, but just does not seem to be able to let it go. The entire fit that would make any child feel ashamed lasts for games, and sometimes even throughout an entire set or more.

While I cannot say that I would deliberately condone racquet throwing and screaming in anger, it is very clear from a study of other players that some personality types need that release valve of sorts. They need to be able to just let it all go so that the rest of the match is not clouded by that frustration and anger.

This is where I see a distinct weakness in Harrison’s mental capacity, and while there is no question as to his effort level from point to point, he needs to find a way to exorcise his own demons in a quick manner so that he can return his mentality to the task at hand. He simply does not currently have a game that is imposing enough to effectively use this agitation to raise his level.

Roddick is unique with regards to this effect, and you can see that as he gets more upset, he begins to serve harder, which is helpful against lesser returners. With the greater speed, comes lower precision and you see the better returns begin to have an even easier time returning the Roddick serve.

In addition to this, the remainder of Roddick’s game, which has been mediocre at best recently, becomes even worse, making it easy for opponents to take advantage of his weak backhand and short forehand.

There are plenty of other players that this can apply to, and there are the players that will get upset with a call that goes against them and then they go into a negative funk for games on end. This is usually not talked about as much because they are just not showing effort instead of smashing racquets and screaming as you would expect a child to.

Some will argue that Harrison expresses his emotions because he cares so much, but that is a completely baseless excuse, as almost anyone that has put in the amount of time and effort to reach that level of tennis obviously cares. The fact is that all players are going to get frustrated with their own games from time to time, and it is important to understand how you need to handle it, and that is dependent on the player.

Anyone that has watched Harrison knows that his game is one that is built primarily on consistency, and taking frustrated swings trying to outhit his opponent is detrimental to his success. This is why he needs to cut the extended tantrums out of his game and find a way to refocus and stick to his game plan.

Can anyone make a claim that Roger Federer does not want to win just because he chooses not to break a racquet or two each match when he misses another backhand? Absolutely not, but he is a player that learned a long time ago that expressing his frustration is not helpful to him. Some may forget that Federer was a bit of racquet smasher and tantrums thrower in his early days.

On the other hand, there was a time when Safin cooled down his demeanor on court and resisted the urge to throw a racquet, and his results suffered. His own personality was very different from Federer and he needed some way of unloading that frustration so that he could refocus.

Showings of emotion are a perfectly acceptable thing in the world of tennis, and very few players have the right personality to be successful and also have the demeanor of a Pete Sampras. Sadly enough, Sampras was criticized by many in his day and many felt that he did not care and that he was boring.

By today’s standards, many would claim that Sampras did not care, again because he typically did not throw racquets or show those kinds of negative emotions. Despite this opinion, Sampras was the same player that collapsed with full body cramps after winning a Davis Cup match in 1995, and actually vomited on court in 1996 during a US Open quarterfinal match against Alex Corretja.

If that is a player that does not care, maybe some of the new crop of players should take a few notes from one of the greats. You do not need to be a statue on the court, but true fans will appreciate grit and effort much more than a tantrum that they can watch their own kids throw.