“My best surfaces were also his best,” Andy Roddick feels Roger Federer was the biggest thorn in his flesh

“My best surfaces were also his best,” Andy Roddick feels Roger Federer was the biggest thorn in his flesh

Andy Roddick, Roger Federer

Former World No.1 Andy Roddick was a sensational talent hailing from Texas, United States. The former US Open champion would have surely won more than a solitary Grand Slam if he was born in a different era than the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Roddick was often outdone by their class and had to bow out of the events after losing to one of these legends.

Currently, Roddick is into tennis punditry as he analyses games for the Tennis Channel and shares his knowledge and wisdom regarding the sport. The American was recently quizzed by a fan on Twitter as he asked the former World No.1 to choose who was the toughest for him among Federer and Nadal.

https://twitter.com/andyroddick/status/1518726910674710534

Roddick without any surprise chose Roger Federer as he reasoned how the Swiss maestro was very good on all the surfaces. He also shared how Federer was very good on surfaces that Roddick preferred and therefore he was very difficult to play against. However, he elaborated how he struggled to play against Rafael Nadal on clay as Roddick could never adjust to the red dirt and Nadal was simply unstoppable.

In reply to the fan’s question on Twitter, Andy Roddick replied, “Roger (Federer) was a tougher slams matchup for me because he was also at his best on fast courts. My best surfaces were also his best surfaces. My worst possible match was playing against Rafa (Nadal) on clay though. He is GOAT on it and I was pretty bad on it.”

Andy Roddick made it to 5 Grand Slam finals, winning only one

Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick

Just like Rodick suggested that he was not good on clay surfaces, the records support his statement. The American had the worst record at the Roland Garros in comparison to other Grand Slams. While he has won the US Open in 2003, he reached the finals of Wimbledon thrice but failed to bag the title home. Similarly, his best record at the Australian Open was to reach the semifinals. He reached the last four a total of four times but never was able to break into the title clash. Now coming to his best record at the Roland Garros where he could only reach the fourth round that too once in 2009.

When the question was asked about his tougher matchup, Roddick’s answer was pretty obvious. Roger Federer was a thorn in his flesh during his best days. The American made it to five finals across US Open and Wimbledon. He won the US Open title in 2003, the solitary Grand Slam that he had won in his career. His all other Grand Slam finals ended with the runners up trophy and coincidentally in all the other finals except the 2003 US Open, he faced Federer and lost all four matches. He played the 2003 US Open final against Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Hence choosing Federer as his toughest matchup made complete sense. But he was smart enough to use his diplomacy as he also brought in Rafael Nadal in the conversation by adding clay court, a surface where Roddick was never successful.

Also Read: ‘The Longest Top 10 streak in history’: Rafael Nadal entered the Top 10, 17 years ago and has never left since then