‘I hope my son can emulate Roger Federer’s off court behavior,’ says Andy Roddick

‘I hope my son can emulate Roger Federer’s off court behavior,’ says Andy Roddick

Roger Federer and Andy Roddick

When 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer dominated the sport during from 2003-07, former World No.1 Andy Roddick was one of his biggest rivals on the tour. Although the Swiss maestro owned the American in their head to head count, the two players indulged in many battles over the years.

Both Roddick and Federer also headlined several Grand Slam finals, especially at Wimbledon. Their 2009 final at the All England Club remains one of the greatest matches to have even take place on the tennis court, even to this day.

While the former US Open champion has often heaped praise on the 40-year-old Federer, Roddick once again took time from his busy schedule to speak to Tennis Channel about Federer’s laudable off court qualities.

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“I hope my son, if he has a hundredth the success as Roger has even one day of his life, is as gracious as Roger is,” the American said.

“Not only to the other players, to the officials. You live in locker rooms and you see people throw grip tape on the floor and they walk away…that was never Roger Federer. There was never a sense of entitlement, there was always a please, always a thank you. Forget about the tennis, let’s put that on a back burner. There’s been a lot of great tennis players, but how he conducted himself when no one was watching is a takeaway that I’ll have.”

Roddick wants Swansong for Federer

Roger Federer
Roger Federer

Roddick also spoke about Federer’s injury and why he deserves a fitting goodbye from the sport.

“I don’t care if he’s as good as he once was, that’s unimportant to me at this point,” the American added. “What’s important is that he gets the goodbye that he wants. And one other thing that needs to be mentioned, and it’s one of the most amazing stats in sporting history, he has never retired from a match.”

Currently, the Swiss is about to undergo a knee surgery and although there is no guarantee on his return date, he is certain to miss the remaining part of 2021.

Also read: ‘I want to keep winning, no matter how good the year is already for me,’ warns Alexander Zverev