Andy Roddick candidly admitted that “a chucker like me” didn’t have enough to really threaten Roger Federer, who “completely transformed tennis” with his game and astonishing talent.
In the 2000s, the American was widely regarded as one of the best players in the game and the expectation was that he would win multiple Grand Slams after becoming a Major champion at the 2003 US Open. And that prediction was legitimate since the former world No. 1 had a tailor-made game for faster courts and he reached another US Open final in 2006 and also three times came one win away from winning Wimbledon (2004, 2005, 2009).
But there was also Federer and he was the sole reason why Roddick finished with only one Slam – the legendary Swiss beat the American in all of those four finals mentioned above. In the end, the former 20-time Major winning ended up winning 21 of their 24 matches and he also triumphed in all of their eight Slam meetings.
After losing to Federer four times, Roddick finally claimed his first victory at the 2003 Canadian Masters. But then, he went five years without a win before snapping an 11-match losing streak versus the Swiss at the 2008 Miami Masters. In the next four years, the American lost six times before triumphing in their last matchup in 2012 Miami.
“It took the perfect prototype of a player to even bother Roger a little. Chuckers like me certainly weren’t doing it, but you create a prototype of someone who is fast, strong, and can find the only pocket up and away on Roger, and all of a sudden it made tennis interesting again. Roger completely transformed tennis with his ability to create spin, and power, and speed, and then all of a sudden you put all of those things together,” the former world No. 1 said on the Served with Andy Roddick.
Andy Roddick and Roger Federer© YouTube screenshot
As if dealing with Federer wasn’t enough, then came another major talent on the scene – Nadal. While Roddick finished on the winning side in their first meeting and was split with the Spaniard after their four meetings, he didn’t have much success later on as Nadal won five of their last six matches to improve to a 7-3 head-to-head.
But the Spanish tennis icon didn’t finish with a positive record only against the American as he also had a winning formula for the Swiss and won 24 of their 40 matchups.
“Then we had another cyborg [Rafa] that came through, he could create more distance between opponents and switch directions better than anyone ever, it was just a fascinating time. I didn’t feel like a player more like a fan whilst I was playing,” the 2003 US Open champ added.
Roddick funnily revealed one thing about Federer that ‘drove me crazy’
A couple of months ago, the American tennis legend said he was never someone who was jealous of others. But there was one thing about the Swiss that absolutely drove him nuts – how calm and chill he was. While he would feel anxious and tense before their Slam finals and meetings, the former 20-time Major winner casually went about his business.
“I don’t have a lot of regrets. I don’t envy people for their successes. I am more than happy that these three have won all of the tournaments that they’ve won. I was very jealous and still jealous of Roger because he was the guy I played most in the biggest matches. Just because we were good on the same surfaces at the same time was his ease of operation, it just drove me crazy. Because I could see him on the Saturday before Grand Slam losing to some chucker on our practice court and I walked by and he was smiling, laughing,” Roddick said on his podcast three months ago.
Roddick admitted he wanted just one Wimbledon title
Last year, the 42-year-old told GQ magazine that he “loves Roger” and that he never disliked the Swiss just because he was dominating him.
“I didn’t show up at the track every morning like, ‘F Roger!’ To me it was like the sky. You’re not always looking at it, but you know it’s there,” he said at the time.
After suffering a four-set loss in the 2004 Wimbledon final, Roddick lost in straight sets in the final following year. Four years later happened that thriller 2009 final at The Championships, which Federer won 5-7 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5) 3-6 16-14,
“Had I won Wimbledon, I don’t think I would have one single regret. I’m not disappointed I didn’t win ten slams. I’m disappointed I didn’t win Wimbledon. You can have seven of ’em. I just wanted one,” Roddick said in the same interview with GQ.
Tennis World USA