Andy Roddick

Andrew Stephen “Andy” Roddick, (born August 30, 1982, Omaha, Nebraska, USA), nicknamed “A-Rod” [1], is an American former World No. 1 tennis player. As of September 2005, Roddick ranked as the best male US tennis player and the third-best in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals, behind Federer and Nadal. Roddick is known for his explosive serves, powerful forehands, and off-court charm.

Tennis career

Roddick turned professional in 2000 at 18, and became the youngest man to end the year in the ATP Top 200 (a record broken in 2002 by 16-year-old French Richard Gasquet). In 2001, he became the youngest player to end the year in the ATP Top 20.

Roddick’s outstanding hardcourt record in summer 2003 included his first Grand Slam title at the 2003 US Open, in which he rallied from two sets down in the semifinals to beat David Nalbandian and dispatching finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets.

In 2003, at age 21, he was ranked No. 1, the first American to finish a year at No. 1 since Andre Agassi in 1999. He also became the youngest American and second-youngest player (behind Australian Lleyton Hewitt, aged 20 years, 8 months) to hold this rank since computer rankings were started in 1973.

In 2004, Roddick set the world record for the fastest serve: 246.2 km/h (153.5 mph) during a straight-set victory over Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan in the quarter-finals of the Queens Club grass-court tournament. On August 31 of that year, he had the fastest serve in US Open history: 244 km/h (152 mph). But Roddick was unexpectedly knocked out of the tournament in a spectacular 5-set quarterfinal match against another big server, Joachim Johansson. He finished 2004 ranked as the world’s No. 2, the USA’s No. 1, and the player with the most aces (he hit 1017 of them in 2004).

In 2004, Roddick joined Mardy Fish and doubles players Bob and Mike Bryan on the U.S. Davis Cup team that lost to Spain in the finals in Seville. In 2005, Andre Agassi joined the team, and played behind Roddick at No. 2.

In 2004, Roddick fired his coach of 18 months, Brad Gilbert, and hired assistant Davis Cup coach Dean Goldfine.

Roddick’s first 2005 victory was the SAP Open in San Jose, California, where he was the first to win the event in consecutive years since Mark Philippoussis in 1999 and 2000. The top-seeded Roddick breezed to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Cyril Saulnier in 50 minutes, the event’s first championship shutout set since Arthur Ashe beat Guillermo Vilas in 1975.

On April 24, 2005, Roddick won the U.S. Men’s Claycourt Championships, reclaiming the title he won in 2001 and 2002. He lost in 2003 to Andre Agassi and in 2004 to Tommy Haas.

In May 2005, top-seeded Roddick chose sportsmanship over a slot in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters when he challenged a ruling that favored him at a triple match point. After Roddick’s objections, his opponent Fernando Verdasco was awarded an ace instead of a double fault. Verdasco then saved two more match points, held serve, broke Roddick’s serve, and eventually won the match.

At Roland Garros 2005, Roddick lost to the unseeded Argentine player Jose Acasuso in the second round.

At Wimbledon 2005, Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the final for the second year in a row.

At U.S. Open 2005, Roddick lost to Gilles Muller in the first round. Roddick’s last U.S. Open first round loss was in 2000.

Personal

Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska, moved to Boca Raton, Florida, and now lives in Austin, Texas.

Roddick’s father Jerry is an investor; his mother Blanche directs the Andy Roddick Foundation. Roddick’s brother John was an All-American tennis player at the University of Georgia from 1996 to 1998, and operates a tennis academy in San Antonio, Texas. Their oldest brother, Lawrence, a chiropractor in San Antonio, was an accomplished springboard diver and a member of U.S. Senior National Team.

Roddick is considered a U.S. sports celebrity. Following his 2003 US Open win, Roddick embarked on a 12-hour media blitz, appearing on the Today Show, MTV, CNN, and The Late Show with David Letterman, among others. He has thrown out the first pitch at several Major League Baseball games, most recently Game 2 of the 2003 Oakland-Boston playoff series. After winning the NASDAQ tournament, Roddick opened that stock market on August 20, 2003.

He hosted Saturday Night Live on November 8, 2003, becoming the second tennis player (the first being Chris Evert) and only the tenth athlete to do so. He won the 2004 ESPY award for best male tennis player. He was deemed “Sexiest Athlete” by People Magazine’s December 2003 issue of “Sexiest Man Alive”. Roddick has appeared in Vogue magazine.

In 2004, Roddick won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award of the Year because of his charity efforts, which include: raising money for the survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami through Serving for Tsunami Relief and other efforts; auctioning off several rackets and autographs to raise money for UNICEF; and creating the Andy Roddick Foundation to help at-risk youth. The foundation is partly funded through the sale of blue wristbands inscribed “No Compromise,” mimicking Lance Armstrong’s yellow Livestrong bands.

In 2005, Roddick appeared on VH1’s 100 Most Wanted Bodies, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Punk’d after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher on his way to the Tonight Show. Roddick also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

In April 2005, Reebok announced that it would end its contract with Roddick, who had been endorsed by the company ever since he was 17. Roddick has now joined forces with Lacoste.

Roddick had a high profile relationship with singer Mandy Moore. Furthermore, he has been linked with aspiring model Lauren Bedford and tennis ace Maria Sharapova.

Quotations

“I’m in the mood for a beer right now… This guy’s the best for a reason and you’ve really got to give him a lot of credit… He’s such a complete player … maybe I’ll just punch him or something, I don’t know.” – On losing to Roger Federer in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships.

Titles (20)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (1)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (3)
ATP Tour (14)

Singles (19)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. Apr 23, 2001 Atlanta, USA Hard Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 6-2 6-4
2. Apr 30, 2001 Houston, USA Clay Hyung-Taik Lee (South Korea) 7-5 6-3
3. Aug 13, 2001 Washington, USA Hard Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) 6-2 6-3
4. Feb 18, 2002 Memphis, USA Hard James Blake (USA) 6-4 3-6 7-5
5. Apr 22, 2002 Houston, USA Clay Pete Sampras (USA) 7-6 6-3
6. May 19, 2003 St. Polten, Austria Clay Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-3 6-2
7. Jun 9, 2003 London / Queen’s Club, Great Britain Grass Sebastien Grosjean (France) 6-3 6-3
8. Jul 21, 2003 Indianapolis, USA Hard Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) 7-6 6-4
9. Aug 4, 2003 Montreal, Canada Hard David Nalbandian (Argentina) 6-1 6-3
10. Aug 11, 2003 Cincinnati, USA Hard Mardy Fish (USA) 4-6 7-6 7-6
11. Aug 25, 2003 U.S. Open, New York, USA Hard Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 6-3 7-6 6-3
12. Feb 9, 2004 San Jose, USA Hard Mardy Fish (USA) 7-6 6-4
13. Mar 22, 2004 Miami, USA Hard Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 6-7 6-3 6-1 ret.
14. Jun 7, 2004 London / Queen’s Club, Great Britain Grass Sebastien Grosjean (France) 7-6 6-4
15. Jul 19, 2004 Indianapolis, USA Hard Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-2 6-3
16. Feb 7, 2005 San Jose, USA Hard Cyril Saulnier (France) 6-0 6-4
17. Apr 24, 2005 Houston, USA Clay Sebastien Grosjean (France) 6-2 6-2
18. Jun 6, 2005 London / Queen’s Club, Great Britain Grass Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6 7-6
19. Aug 7, 2005 Washington, USA Hard James Blake (USA) 7-5 6-3

Singles Finalist (10)

2002: Delray Beach (lost to Davide Sanguinetti)
2002: Toronto AMS (lost to Guillermo Canas)
2003: Memphis (lost to Taylor Dent)
2003: Houston (lost to Andre Agassi)
2004: Houston (lost to Tommy Haas)
2004: Wimbledon (lost to Roger Federer)
2004: Toronto AMS (lost to Roger Federer)
2004: Bangkok (lost to Roger Federer)
2005: Wimbledon (lost to Roger Federer)
2005: Cincinnati AMS (lost to Roger Federer)

Performance timeline

Tournament 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Career
Australian Open SF QF SF 2r – - 0
French Open 2r 2r 1r 1r 3r – 0
Wimbledon F F SF 3r 3r – 0
U.S. Open 1r QF W QF QF 1r 1
Tennis Masters Cup SF SF - – - 0
Tournaments played 10 20 23 19 19 5 88
Finals reached 3 8 8 4 3 0 26
Tournaments Won 3 4 6 2 3 0 18
Hardcourt Win-Loss 18-4 57-11 44-10 34-11 23-10 4-5 180-51
Grass Win-Loss 11-1 11-1 10-1 4-2 5-3 0-0 41-8
Carpet Win-Loss 0-0 1-1 6-2 4-2 2-2 0-0 13-7
Clay Win-Loss 5-0 5-5 12-6 14-7 12-1 0-0 43-19
Overall Win-Loss 36-7 74-18 71-19 51-19 39-16 4-5 284-87
ATP Race points 547 731 907 409 303 18 N/A
Year End Ranking 2 1 10 16 160 N/A

Doubles (2)

2001 Delray Beach
2002 Houston