“The end of something that has been so fantastic,” Andy Roddick pays tribute to longtime friend Serena Williams upon her retirement
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Andy Roddick and Serena Williams
Serena Williams, the 40-year-old American icon is widely regarded as the greatest female tennis player of all time by millions around the world, the legend announced her retirement from the sport yesterday as she broke the news that she will be calling it quits after this year’s US Open.
With 23 Grand Slam titles to her name, Williams is hugely credited with revolutionizing the women’s game for the future generations to come, the former world number 1 will be leaving a huge legacy behind her she is finally ready to finish this chapter of her life that inspired millions.
Andy Roddick opens up about Serena Williams’ retirement news
Former men’s world number 1, Andy Roddick shared his thoughts on Williams’ retirement news, Roddick and Serena have been good friends since they were four years old and have even trained together for a few years. Arriving on the Tennis Channel, Roddick talked about the shock he felt after hearing the news.
Roddick said, “It’s weird. You kind of know something’s coming, not like immediately, right? I had no inside info on any of this, I think it’s been played pretty close to the vest. You know it’s not going to go on forever but you’re still kind of shocked by the news, not because the actual moment is surprising but because it means the end of something that has been so fantastic and so important to this game of tennis.”
He also talked about the early stages of Serena and Venus Williams’ careers and how everyone had their doubts about them, “I was lucky enough to have a front row seat to the Serena show. When I was 9 and 10 years old at Rick Macci Tennis Academy and a lot of what we saw in the King Richard movie, I was right there watching it. Frankly, a lot of us at the Academy were like ‘You can’t actually become a professional without playing competitive matches and juniors. How ridiculous is that.’ Well, guess who was ridiculous?”
“All of us were second-guessing Venus and Serena for their process. They innovated with this sport, physically with their competitiveness, the way they went about becoming two of the greats of all time. It had never been done before the way that they had done it. Credit to their father Richard for finding a way to give these two, who were girls and now women and icons of our sport, a chance to perform at the highest level. We’re all better for it,” he added.
Serena Williams will be retiring after the final major tournament of the season that is the US Open, the 40-year-old legend will be looking to finish her glamourous career in a fitting way.
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Akshit Bhatnagar
(316 Articles Published)