Tennis Ace Laughs Off 'Lame' Twitter Warning

Andy Roddick has laughed off attempts by the tennis watchdog to regulate players' updates on Twitter during the US Open - branding them "lame".

Signs posted in the locker rooms at the Arthur Ashe Stadium by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) warn that giving out too much information on Twitter could violate anti-corruption rules.

The notices also say tweeting is not allowed on court during matches.

And even discussing the weather or the court conditions at a tournament could be seen as "the passing of inside information" about the circuit.

"I think its lame the US Open is trying to regulate our tweeting," Roddick, 26, posted on his Twitter site.

"I understand the on-court issue but not sure they can tell us if we can/can't do it on our own time."

The ATP and WTA tours, Grand Slams and the International Tennis Federation established the TIU to combat match-fixing concerns and gambling issues.

"I definitely respect the rule about inside info and on court, but you would seriously have to be a moron to send 'inside info' through a tweet," Roddick posted.

"Not very subtle/smart."
The world number five seed has said: "I found the warning humorous. I understand the precautions being taken as far as the anti-gambling laws and the inside information.

"But I feel like the last place you would put inside information is on a public site for everybody to see.

"The part where it's like, 'We'll be monitoring. Watch what you do besides tennis also,' I thought that was a little bit much."

But defending US Open women's champion Serena Williams said: "It's definitely important because there are a lot of things that happen in tennis that shouldn't happen."

The 11-time Grand Slam winner went on: "You don't think about it sometimes when you Tweet certain things.

"But I guess you have to think about everything nowadays."