“He forced me out of my comfort zone consistently,” Andy Roddick dwells on his rivalry with Roger Federer
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Andy Roddick and Roger Federer
Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick remained one of USA’s best hope on the ATP Tour till the time he retired. Even after a decade since his retirement, Roddick continues to remain the last American man to win a major, become World No. 1 and also be the World No. 1 at the end of the year, just a testament to the impactful career he had with regards to US tennis.
Roddick however won just one major, the 2003 US Open at the age of 21, a title that took him to the top of the rankings as well. He would reach four more Grand Slam finals, thrice in Wimbledon and once in New York but ended up losing to Roger Federer on all 4 occasions in what was one of the brilliant rivalries of the 2000s.
“It was just a rough matchup,”: Andy Roddick on rivalry with Roger Federer
Federer was the nemesis for Roddick and it was something that both players acknowledged during their careers but despite the rivalry, the two always had mutual respect for each other. Speaking with New York Post recently, Roddick was asked whether his rivalry with the 20-time major winner was just a fight of different styles and the American candidly answered it.
“Yeah, yeah, spot on. It was just a rough matchup. There wasn’t much that I did well naturally that he couldn’t counter naturally. Even against Rafa, I knew my first serve would bother him. I knew that I had a little bit more power through the court. And similarly to Roger and Rafa, that matchup is more difficult on Roger because of the lefty and the spins. Roger forced me out of my comfort zone consistently,” said Roddick before laughingly naming the Swiss as his biggest obstacle.
“Operation successful, but sometimes the patient dies.”: Andy Roddick on the 2009 Wimbledon finals
Andy was also asked about the famous 2009 Wimbledon finals between him and Roger that went on for 4 hours and 17 minutes before Roger clinched the title 5–7, 7–6(6), 7–6(5), 3–6, 16–14 in one of the longest Grand Slam finals ever. The match also marked the last time Roddick reached a Grand Slam final as he retired 3 years later with only two more quarter-final appearances in majors.
“That’s the match that I get asked most about. I say everyone has that Starbucks moment in their athletic career, and that’s the Starbucks moment where you see a stranger, they ask you about it. The only thing that I would really change is the result, and winning two more points one of five times.
“But as far as having a game plan, executing it at the highest level in the biggest moment, I felt like I did that over the course of 4.5 hours. One of my coaches Jimmy Connors had a saying: “Operation successful, but sometimes the patient dies.” And that’s the way it felt that day. I felt like I did as much as I could, save for winning two more points,” said Roddick speaking about the match.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)