 Custom Search Andy Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 30, 1982. He is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is the top-ranked American player and fifth-ranked player in the world as of August 20, 2007. He finished sixth in the 2006 ATP Race. He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 U.S. Open. He has reached three other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon twice and the U.S. Open), losing to Roger Federer each time. Roddick is known for his powerful serves and forehand. He also holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, clocked at 155 mph. He has broken his own record three times. Early Life and Family Andy Roddick's parents are Jerry and Blanche Roddick. Roddick's father was a businessman, and his mother, Blanche, was a schoolteacher. She now directs the Andy Roddick Foundation. Roddick has two older brothers, Lawrence and John, who were both promising tennis players at a young age. When Roddick was five, his family relocated to Boca Raton, Florida, where he lived until graduating from high school in 2000. He later moved to Austin, Texas. Roddick's brother John is his coach and since 2006, Jimmy Connors has joined Team Roddick as a consultant coach and often travels to the major tournaments to coach Andy. Andy Roddick supports the University of Nebraska football team and there is even a bathroom in his parents' house covered in red and white Cornhusker wallpaper. Career 2000 through 2005 In 2001, Roddick became the youngest player to end the year in the ATP Top 20. At Wimbledon that year, he showed his potential by taking a set from eventual winner Goran Ivanisevic. Roddick's breakthrough year was in 2003, and many consider his 2003 Australian Open quarterfinal versus Younes El Aynaoui to be his breakthrough match. Roddick and the Moroccan battled for five hours, with the fifth set being one for the record books. The 21-19 set in favor of Andy Roddick was the longest fifth set in a Grand Slam tournament during the open era, at 2 hours 23 minutes. Check the page for an analysis of that fifth set. (This was beaten in 2007, during a Wimbledon Men's Doubles Second Round match, when Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa beat Paul Hanley (AUS) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) in the fifth set 28-26, that set lasting 3 hours and 5 minutes. The entire match lasted 5 hours and 58 minutes.) Both players maintained exceptional unforced errors-to-winners ratios and high quality of play even at the closing stages of the match. Despite a lackluster French Open, Roddick enjoyed success in England by winning Queen's Club and reaching the Wimbledon semifinals where he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets. This success carried over the Atlantic to the United States. Roddick's hardcourt record in 2003 included his first Masters Series titles – coming at Canada and Cincinnati – and his first Grand Slam title. At the U.S. Open, Andy Roddick rallied from two sets down and a match point against him in the semifinals to beat David Nalbandian. He then defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. By the end of the year, 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 to hold this rank since computer rankings were started in 1973.
Roddick displayed his strong character when he saved fellow tennis player Sjeng Schalken and other guests from a Hotel fire back in 2004. He demonstrated even more bravery, also saving close friends Ben Campezi and Dean Monroe from the fire. Roddick's first 2005 tournament 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 defeated Cyril Saulnier 6-0, 6-4 in 50 minutes, the event's first championship shutout set since Arthur Ashe beat Guillermo Vilas in 1975. In April, Andy Roddick won the U.S. Men's Claycourt Championships, reclaiming the title he won in 2001 and 2002. (He lost in 2003 to Agassi and in 2004 to Tommy Haas.) In May 2005, Roddick had match point against Spanish big-hitter Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco was serving, attempting to save the match point on his second serve, when the linesman erroneously called the serve out. If this call had held, Roddick would have won the match. Roddick motioned to the umpire, pointing to the clear ball mark on the clay indicating the ball was in and the call was consequently changed. Verdasco went on to win the match. Many in the American media echoed sentiments such as Roddick had chosen "sportsmanship over a win." However, by Roddick's own admission, the umpire would certainly have come down from his chair since Verdasco was about to challenge the call anyway, and would have been able to see the clear ball mark indicating that the serve was in. AndyRoddick said that he was just saving the umpire a trip. At the 2005 French Open, Andy Roddick lost to the unseeded Argentine player Jose Acasuso in the second round, and at Wimbledon 2005, Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the final for the second consecutive year. At the 2005 U.S. Open, Roddick was defeated by World No. 70 Gilles Müller in the first round. Roddick's last U.S. Open first round loss had been in 2000. At the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon in 2005, Roddick defeated Gael Monfils to wrap up a tournament without losing a set or getting his serve broken. Even though he reached the Wimbledon final and Australian Open semifinals, Tennis Magazine and others criticized Roddick's poor game in 2005. 2006 At the Australian Open, Andy Roddick lost to Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Roddick played rather tentatively throughout most of the match, excluding the second set, contrary to his promise to be more aggressive. In February, Roddick and Goldfine reached a mutual agreement to part ways. Roddick then hired his brother, John Roddick, to coach him. Later in the month, Andy Roddick lost to Andrei Pavel in five sets at a Davis Cup tie in California but won his next match, enabling the U.S. team to advance to the quarterfinals. In March, Roddick lost to 22-year-old Russian Igor Andreev in the fourth round of the first Masters Series event of the year, the Pacific Life Open. In April, Andy Roddick lost to the Spanish baseliner David Ferrer in a quarterfinal of the NASDAQ-100 Open, a Masters Series event. At Queen's Club in London, Andy Roddick failed in his "4-peat" attempt, as he fell to compatriot and friend James Blake 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals. Nevertheless, Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt (who went on the claim to Queen's Club title) entered Wimbledon in 2006 as the two players with the best hopes of dethroning reigning three-time champion Roger Federer. However, in the third round Roddick was defeated 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Andy Murray of the United Kingdom. (Hewitt reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Marcos Baghdatis in four sets.) Roddick reached his first ATP final of the year at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, losing to Blake 4-6, 6-4, 7-6. Andy Roddick sustained a side injury during a tournament in Los Angeles, which sidelined him from the tour for 1 day. He rebounded from this at the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals and then outplaying Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-3 to reach his first Masters Series final of the year. In the final, Roddick hit 17 aces past Juan Carlos Ferrero to win his 21st career title, his second title in Cincinnati, his fourth ATP Masters Series title, and first title of 2006 (6-3, 6-4). Andy Roddick headed into the U.S. Open with a new coach Jimmy Connors, who will coach him, alongside Andy's brother, John Roddick. Roddick breezed past his first round opponent Florent Serra 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. Roddick's second round match against Kristian Pless was not much harder as Roddick won 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-3. Roddick's first major challenge came in the third round, when he struggled to a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2 victory over Fernando Verdasco. Roddick then made it to the quarterfinals after defeating Andre Agassi's conqueror Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Roddick reached the semifinals for the first time in a 2006 Grand Slam tournament by defeating Hewitt 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Roddick then made it to the final after defeating Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-7(5), 6-0, 7-6(3), 6-3. In the final, Roddick lost 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to Federer, the two-time defending champion and World No. 1. In the first rubber of the Davis Cup semifinal against Russia, Andy Roddick lost to Marat Safin 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5). Then, after the Bryan brothers won the doubles rubber to keep the U.S. alive in the tie, Roddick lost to Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 in 4 hours 48 minutes. Roddick qualified for his fourth year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. He was placed in the Red Group, along with Federer, David Nalbandian, and Ivan Ljubicic. Roddick won his match with Ljubicic 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-1 but then lost his matches with Federer, 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, after having three match points in the tiebreak, and Nalbandian, 6-2, 7-6(4). Roddick did not reach the semifinals. 2007 Andy Roddick began 2007 by winning the AAMI Kooyong Classic, beating World No. 1 Roger Federer 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the final. However, Roddick's head-to-head record against the World No. 1 remained at 1-12 as the tournament did not count in the official records because it was an exhibition. Andy Roddick entered the 2007 Australian Open as the sixth seed. In his first round match, he lost a marathon first set tiebreak 20-18 but eventually won the match in four sets against wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France. Roddick defeated 26th seeded Marat Safin in the third round and 9th seeded Mario Ančić in a five set fourth round match. Roddick won his quarterfinal match against fellow American Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 but was defeated by Roger Federer 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in the semifinals, making his head-to-head record against Federer 1-13. Andy Roddick reached at least the semifinals of his next two tournaments. He bowed to Andy Murray in the semifinals of the SAP Open in San Jose, California, a reprise of 2006. Roddick then defeated Murray in the semifinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee before losing in the final to defending champion Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-2. Reaching the final, however, enabled Roddick to overtake Nikolay Davydenko for the World No. 3 position, his first time inside the top three players since March 6, 2006. At the first ATP Masters Series tournament of the year, Andy Roddick reached the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, where he lost to Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3. Roddick is now 1-2 against Nadal. Roddick then played the Sony Ericcson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he retired from his quarterfinal match with Andy Murray due to a left hamstring injury. Although not fully recovered from his hamstring injury, Roddick helped the U.S. advance to the Davis Cup semifinals; however, he re-aggravated the injury and was subsequently forced to pull out of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas. Roddick also announced that he would withdraw from the Monte Carlo Masters, citing his injury. His next tournament was at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome. After a first round bye, he won his first match against Gaston Gaudio where he saved all three break points and fired nine aces. However, he was unable to stop Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round, losing 6-0, 6-4. Andy Roddick then withdrew from the Masters Series Hamburg tournament because, according to his website, he needed time to prepare physically for the French Open. Roddick was seeded third at that tournament, which began May 27, 2007. He was quickly eliminated in the first round by Russian Igor Andreev in four sets. Roddick's next Davis Cup action will be in the semifinals, where the U.S. meets Sweden. In the quarterfinals, Roddick won his singles match against Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-4. In earlier first round Davis Cup action, Roddick helped the U.S. defeat the Czech Republic, winning both of his singles matches against Ivo Minar and Tomas Berdych. The U.S. is looking for its first Davis Cup championship since 1995. Roddick was victorious at the Stella Artois Championships for the fourth time when he beat Nicolas Mahut in 3 sets, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 on 17th June 2007. Roddick had a somewhat disappointing Wimbledon campaign. He was considered to be one of the pre-tournament favourites behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. As a consequence, Roddick was seeded third. He reached the Quarter-finals after wins against Justin Gimelstob of the U.S., Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and Paul-Henri Mathieu. He then lost in five sets to Richard Gasquet of France in what was one of the unexpected upsets of the tournament: (4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-6 to Gasquet). Andy Roddick made it to the semifinals of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, but was upset by Frank Dancevic in 2 straight sets: 4-6, 6-7. However, Roddick claimed his second ATP tour title of the year by winning the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Washington D.C for the third time when he beat American new-comer John Isner in 2 straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 on 5th August 2007. Roddick defeated Justin Gimelstob 7-6 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the 2007 US Open. He marched on to the quarterfinals for a highly anticipated match against Federer. He was defeated 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 with no breaks of serve and only one break point total in the first two sets, that being on Federer's serve. Despite the straight sets loss, Roddick was praised for the high quality tennis he played in the match.
2008 Andy Roddick started 2008 strongly, defeating Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6–3, 6–0 and Russian Marat Safin 6–3, 6–3 to reach AAMI Kooyong Classic final for four consecutive seasons. In the final, he defeated Marcos Baghdatis 7–5, 6–3 to win the tournament for three consecutive years. Roddick was seeded sixth in the 2008 Australian Open. In the first round, he defeated Lukas Dlouhy from Czech Republic 6–3, 6–4, 7–5. In the second round, he then defeated German Michael Berrer 6–2, 6–2, 6–4. Roddick lost to the number 29 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the third round in 5 sets: 4–6, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6, 6–8. Despite losing, Roddick served a career high of 42 aces. Andy Roddick won his 24th career title and his 3rd title at the SAP Open in San Jose, California. He defeated Czech Republic Radek Stepanek in straight sets, 6–4, 7–5. Roddick's next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships. He made it to the semi-finals by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain 7–6(5), 6–2, his first victory over Nadal since the second round of the 2004 US Open. This win also marked Roddick's first victory over a player ranked in the top two since June 2003. He progressed through to the finals by defeating World No.3 and 2008 Australian Open Singles Champion Novak Djokovic 7–6(5), 6–3 in the semi-final. By making it to the final, he became the first American to reach the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships final in the tournament's 16 year history. In the final he defeated Feliciano Lopez 6–7(8), 6–4, 6–2, to win his 25th career title. Following Roddick's quarterfinal match in Dubai, he announced that he had split with his coach of two years, Jimmy Connors. Connors had resigned a week earlier, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. Andy Roddick will continue to be coached by his brother, John Roddick. Roddick then fell to former Number 2-ranked German Tommy Haas at the Indian Wells Masters in the 2nd round, 6–4, 6–4. Recently Roddick announced that he will not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics, in order to concentrate on the 2008 US Open. At the 2008 Miami Masters, Andy Roddick advanced to the semifinals after defeating Federer 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 an hour after proposing to Brooklyn Decker, bringing his head to head record against Federer to 2-15. Roddick improved to 3-0 against top 3 players in 2008. Roddick lost in the semi-finals to Davydenko 6-7(5), 2-6. Roddick's next tournament was the Masters tournament in Rome. There he equaled his best result by reaching the semifinals, where he retired against Andy Murray in the pair's first encounter due to a back injury. Andy Roddick was forced to pull out of the 2008 French Open due to a shoulder injury. After a visit to a doctor in New York it was determined this was nothing more than an inflammation of the rotator cuff. His first tournament after the shoulder injury was the Artois Championship, his annual Wimbledon preparation, where he was the defending champion after winning the title last year, one of four wins at the tournament. In the tournament, Roddick defeated Mardy Fish and Andy Murray before losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. In the 2008 Wimbledon, Andy Roddick suffered a surprise 2nd round defeat to Serbia's Janko Tipsarević 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6. Andy Roddick has been under the media spotlight to perform well in the tradition of his immediate predecessors in American tennis: Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi. After his fourth round exit from the 2006 Australian Open and first round exits from the 2005 U.S. Open and 2006 French Open, Roddick was criticized by some tennis commentators and analysts who questioned his commitment to the game and his ability to play at the highest level of the professional tour. Their major argument was that Andy Roddick lacked diversity and aggression on his backhand side and relied too much on his forehand. Roddick will continue to be under immense media and public scrutiny until he can shed the "one slam wonder" label and back-up his 2003 U.S. Open title with another major championship, although it appears as if the media has begun to respect Andy Roddick as a player since he switched coaches to Jimmy Connors. It should also be noted that because of the continued dominance of Roger Federer, much of the media criticism of Roddicks game has been a little harsh, when in terms of season by season performance, he has been one of the most consistent players on tour in recent years, as he has only dropped out of the top 10 once since 2003 and has reached a grand slam final every season apart from 2007.
Split with coach Following Roddick's quarterfinal match in Dubai, he announced that he had split with his coach of two years, Jimmy Connors. Connors had resigned a week earlier, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.Roddick would continue to be coached by his brother, John Roddick. He then fell to former world # 2 Tommy Haas at the Pacific Life Open in the 2nd round, 6–4, 6–4. At the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, Andy Roddick advanced to the semifinals after defeating world # 1 Federer 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 an hour after proposing to Brooklyn Decker, bringing his head-to-head record against Federer to 2-15. Roddick improved to 3-0 against top-3 players in 2008. Roddick lost in the semifinals to Nikolay Davydenko 6-7 (5), 2-6. Roddick's next tournament was the Masters tournament in Rome. There he equaled his best result by reaching the semifinals, where he retired against Stanislas Wawrinka in the pair's first encounter, due to a back injury. Roddick was forced to pull out of the 2008 French Open due to a shoulder injury. After a visit to a doctor in New York it was determined this was nothing more than an inflammation of the rotator cuff. His first tournament after the shoulder injury was the Artois Championship, his annual Wimbledon preparation, where he was the defending champion after winning the title last year, one of four wins at the tournament. In the tournament, Roddick defeated Mardy Fish and Andy Murray before losing to eventual champion Nadal in the semifinals. In the 2008 Wimbledon, Roddick suffered a 2nd round defeat to Serbia's Janko Tipsarević 6–7 (5), 7–5, 6–4, 7–6 (4). This was his earliest exit at Wimbledon. Roddick was beaten at the Rogers Cup in the third round by Marin Čilić, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6. He was then forced to pull out of the Cincinnati Masters following a neck injury, which he said may have been caused by a poor sleeping posture. He stated in an interview that the neck injury had nothing to do with his shoulder injury. Andy Roddick did not participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics, with his reason being to concentrate on the 2008 US Open. In order to prepare for the US Open, Roddick then played in the smaller hard court tournaments in the US Open Series, including those at Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. At the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, Roddick lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the final, 1-6, 6-7 (2). At the 2008 US Open, Roddick defeated Fabrice Santoro in the first round 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Roddick then won his next 3 matches against Ernests Gulbis, Andreas Seppi, and Fernando González. In the quarterfinals, Roddick lost to the World No. 3 and reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5) bringing his head-to-head record to 1-2. Success in Asia Roddick captured his 26th ATP title in Beijing at the China Open on September 28, 2008. He defeated Dudi Sela of Israel, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3. The victory was part of Roddick's strong showing in Asia, as he reached the semifinal round of the AIG Japan Open where he lost to eventual champion Tomas Berdych after squandering a 5-3 lead in the third and deciding set. In the third round of the Madrid Masters he lost to Frenchman Gael Monfils in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 3-6. Two weeks later, Andy Roddick reached the quarterfinals of Paris Masters by defeating Frenchman Gilles Simon, 6-3, 7-5, before losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Due to his performance in the tournament, Roddick automatically qualified for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. At the Masters Cup in Shanghai, he played Andy Murray in his first round robin match and lost 4-6, 6-1, 1-6. He was then scheduled to play Federer, but retired due to an ankle injury and was replaced by Štěpánek. Return to form in 2009 Roddick hired Larry Stefanki as his new coach and started working with him on December 1, 2008. Stefanki had previously trained John McEnroe, Marcelo Ríos, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Fernando González, and Tim Henman. Under Stefanki's guidance, both Rios and Kafelnikov rose to the World No. 1 ranking, and Henman and González reached the top five, including a 2007 Australian Open runner-up finish by Gonzalez. Roddick began official tournament competition at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. He defeated Gaël Monfils in the semifinals 7–6, 3–6, 6–3 before losing to Andy Murray in the final. At the Australian Open, Roddick defeated Xavier Malisse in the second round 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(1), 6–2. After victories over Fabrice Santoro and 21st-seeded Tommy Robredo, Andy Roddick played the defending champion and World No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Djokovic retired in the fourth set while trailing 6–7(3), 6–4, 6–2, 2–1, which allowed Roddick to reach the fourth Australian Open semifinal of his career. Roddick was defeated there by eventual runner-up Roger Federer 6–2, 7–5, 7–5. His next tournament was the SAP Open in San Jose, U.S. He snapped a three-match losing streak against Tommy Haas in the quarterfinals 7–5, 6–4 before losing in the semifinals to Radek Štěpánek for the first time in his career 3–6, 7–6(5), 6–4. At the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, U.S., Roddick defeated Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals 2–6, 7–6, 6–4, to reach the final. He took his first title of the year by beating Štěpánek in the final 7–5, 7–5. Roddick chose not to defend his Dubai title, with prize money of over $2 million, to protest the refusal of the United Arab Emirates to grant Israeli Shahar Peer a visa for the Women's Tennis Association event. "I really didn't agree with what went on over there", Roddick said. Roddick played both of the spring ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in the U.S. He was seeded seventh at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. He defeated defending champion Djokovic in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–2. His run was ended by World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals 6–4, 7–6(4). However, he won the doubles title with partner Mardy Fish. It was his fourth doubles title overall and his second partnering Fish. At the Miami Masters, Roddick beat ninth-seeded Monfils in the fourth round 7–6(2), 6–2 to secure a place in the quarterfinals, where he lost to Federer 6–3, 4–6, 6–4. After a break from tournament tennis to get married, Roddick returned to action at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay court event in Madrid. In his first match, Roddick survived two match points in the second set tiebreaker to defeat Haas 1–6, 7–6(9), 6–4. In the quarterfinals, Andy Roddick again lost to Federer 7–5, 6–7(5), 6–1. Roddick had his career best result at the French Open when he defeated Marc Gicquel in the third round. He lost in the fourth round to Monfils 6–4, 6–2, 6–3. A twisted ankle forced Roddick to retire from his semifinal match against James Blake at the AEGON Championships, his first grass court tournament of the year. He was seeded sixth at Wimbledon. He defeated Hewitt in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–7(10), 7–6(1), 4–6, 6–4, serving a career-high 43 aces, and third-seeded Andy Murray in the semifinals, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7), 7–6(5). He then lost to Federer for the third time in a Wimbledon final 5–7, 7–6(6), 7–6(5), 3–6, 16–14. Even though Roddick lost this match, he set a record for number of games won in a Wimbledon final at 39. This was their fourth meeting in a Grand Slam final, all having been won by Federer. On the strength of his Wimbledon performance, Roddick returned to the top five on July 13, 2009. Roddick returned to action as the top seed at the ATP World Tour 500 event in Washington. He defeated Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-2 and then Sam Querrey 7-6(4), 6-4 for his 500th career ATP tour victory. He defeated Ivo Karlovic in the quarter-finals 7-6(4), 7-6(5), and John Isner 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5 in the semi-finals. In the final, he lost to defending champion Juan Martín del Potro 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) despite saving three match points. Andy Roddick played the next week at the ATP World Tour 1000 event in Montreal, where he was seeded fifth. He defeated Igor Andreev 6-1, 7-6(3), then World #11 Fernando Verdasco 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(5), and in the quarterfinals defeated World #4 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6(4), improving his career record against Djokovic to 4-2 (3-0 in 2009). He then lost to World #6 Juan Martín del Potro 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals, despite having a match point. The loss dropped his career record against del Potro to 0-3 (0-2 in 2009). Roddick next played at the ATP World Tour 1000 event in Cincinnati, where he was seeded fifth. He lost to Sam Querrey 7-6(11), 7-6(3) in his first match, after having received a bye in the first round. Roddick entered the US Open as the 5th seeded player. In his first round match, he defeated the German veteran Bjorn Phau 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. On September 3, 2009 during the US Open, he faced Frenchman Marc Gicquel and won 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 as his parents and newly wed wife watched on from the stands. In the 3rd round, he was eliminated by fellow American John Isner 7-6(3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6(5). Ironically, he lost his serve only once during the match, as was the case in the Wimbledon final. Roddick's next tournament was the 2009 China Open in Beijing where he was the defending champion. In a shocking upset he was defeated in the first round by Polish qualifier and world #143 Łukasz Kubot 2-6, 4-6. He also played doubles at the event with Mark Knowles. The pair reached the final, losing to Bob and Mike Bryan 6-4, 6-2. Andy Roddick was forced to retire from his first round match at the 2009 Shanghai Masters against Stanislas Wawrinka while leading 4-3. It was later announced that Roddick would return to the United States to seek medical advice on a left knee injury. Once again, he qualified for the Year-End Masters in London securing the sixth spot. However, Roddick withdrew from the 2009 Valencia Open 500, the 2009 BNP Paribas Masters and the 2009 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals due to the injury he suffered from at the Shanghai Masters. He finished 2009 as the number seven ranked player in the world. 2010 Roddick started his 2010 campaign at the 2010 Brisbane International as the top seed. Roddick defeated Peter Luczak, Carsten Ball, Richard Richard Gasquet, and Tomáš Berdych to reach the final. In the final, he defeated defending champion Radek Štěpánek 7-6(2), 7-6(7) for his first ATP Tour title since February 2009. Roddick teamed with James Blake in the men's doubles and made it to the semifinals before losing to eventual champions Jérémy Chardy and Marc Gicquel. Roddick announced that he will not represent the United States in Davis Cup competition for the 2010 season. Roddick entered the 2010 Australian Open as the seventh seed. He defeated Thiemo de Bakker, Thomaz Bellucci and Feliciano Lopez, and then defeated world #11 Fernando González 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach his sixth career Australian Open quarterfinal and raise his career record against Gonzalez to 9-3. In the quarterfinals he faced world #14 Marin Čilić, and despite cominback from two sets down while battling an apparent shoulder injury, Roddick lost 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3. He then played in the 2010 SAP Open, he cruised through the semifinals with straigth sets victory over Ryler DeHeart, Leonardo Mayer and Tomáš Berdych. In the semifinals he lost the first set 2-6 to Sam Querrey but came back winning the final two sets in tie-breaks 7-6(5), 7-6(4) and went to the finals where he lost to Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 4-6, 4-6. He then entered the 2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships as the defending champion where he struggled in a tough first round against James Blake triumphing 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) and then dispatched Yen-Hsun Lu 7-6(2) 6-4, but lost in the Quarterfinals in a rematch of the San Jose semifinals to Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-3, 1-6. Playing in the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Roddick went to the semifinals with straight sets wins over Yen-Hsun Lu, Thiemo de Bakker, Jürgen Melzer and Tommy Robredo, continuing a winning record against all his opponents. He then faced Robin Soderling in the semifinals, and despite a 0–2 record against him, won 6–4, 3–6, 6–3. Andy Roddick lost to Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(3), 7-6(5) in the finals. This was Roddick's first Masters Series finals since the 2006 Cincinnati Masters. In the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open Roddick defeated Igor Andreev, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Benjamin Becker, Nicolas Almagro. In the semifinals he upset 4th seed Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach his fourth final of the year. In the final Roddick won his second Sony Ericsson Open title after defeating Berdych, 7-5, 6-4, in the finals. This is also his 29th title in 49 finals and 5th Masters 1000 title. Roddick withdrew from Rome due to personal reasons and from Madrid due to a stomach virus. Davis Cup With his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win over Paul Henri Mathieu on April 13, 2008, for the deciding victory in the best-of-five 2008 quarterfinal Davis Cup match with France, Roddick improved to 10-0 in clinching situations for the United States. In his second singles victory in three days, he was held to 17 aces, down from 30 against Michael Llodra a few days prior. Roddick improved to 31-11 for the US in Davis Cup matches, trailing only John McEnroe. His win against the 12th-ranked Mathieu was part of a strong month in which he beat the tour's top three players—Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.
Andy Roddick is often called "the other A-Rod", a reference to baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez already having that nickname. On court, he has been known to argue with chair umpires and linespeople, although he often applauds an opponent's winning shot. Roddick is also known for his sense of humor, and is often overheard on television trading jokes with the crowd during matches. Andy Roddick also enjoys occasionally mimicking other tennis stars for crowds during exhibition matches (such as World TeamTennis) , including John McEnroe, Maria Sharapova and Andre Agassi. Equipment In April 2005, Reebok announced that it would end its contract with Roddick, who had been endorsed by the company since he was 17. Andy Roddick has now joined forces with Lacoste. Roddick will release a cologne with Parlux Fragrances. Roddick uses the Pure Drive Roddick Plus racquet, a signature racquet designed for him by racquet sponsor Babolat, which is slightly heavier and stiffer than the standard Pure Drive Series. Roddick also uses Babolat Propulse tennis shoes which are Roddick's signature gear. Endorsements
Awards and Records In 2004, Roddick produced the fastest serve in professional tennis: 249-250 km/h (155 mph) during a Davis Cup semi-final match with Belarus's Vladimir Voltchkov on hard court in Charleston. Earlier that year, Roddick had the fastest serve in U.S. Open history: 244 km/h (152 mph) against American Scoville Jenkins. Roddick also won the 2004 ESPY Award for Best Male Tennis Player. In 2005, Andy Roddick won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award of the Year because of his charity efforts, which included: raising money for the survivors of the tsunami following 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake 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," inspired by Lance Armstrong's yellow Livestrong wristbands. In 2007 Roddick and the Andy Roddick Foundation was awarded by the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Roddick was the first male tennis player ever to receive this award. Playing Style Roddick's style is that of an offensive baseliner. His most dangerous weapon is his powerful and accurate first serve, which he uses to earn free points with aces/unreturnable serves or put himself into position to hit a forehand winner. His first serve is known to some as the "Roddick Serve", since he abbreviates the serve by removing part of the motion. He usually targets the two corners, and gets many aces via this strategy. When he first burst onto the scene in the tour, Roddick's forehand was often called one of the best forehands in the game. For his second serve, Roddick usually employs a heavy kick serve, then tries to use a variety of spins, slices, and angles in the rally to throw off his opponent and position himself for a winning shot. Despite all this, Roddick is sometimes criticized for his lack of variety. Roddick will also occasionally use the serve and volley tactic on both first and second services to surprise his opponent, although he generally prefers to remain near the baseline after a serve. One of Roddick's most effective combinations is the serve out wide on the deuce court followed by an inside out forehand winner. Although this tactic is expected by most opponents, they often struggle so much with returning serve that they are unable to recover fast enough to chase down his following shot. Roddick prefers to play shorter points, as he is not known to be one of the fastest individuals on the men's tour, though under Jimmy Connors' coaching he is becoming increasingly better concerning court coverage and reaches many shots that previously he would have had trouble with. Though Roddick's return game has been labeled his greatest weakness, this aspect of his game has improved somewhat in recent months. Under the tutelage of coach Jimmy Connors, Roddick has attempted to transform his two-handed backhand and volley, arguably his worst two shots, into more reliable shots. Regardless, opponents know that Roddick's backhand and volleys can go off when put under pressure during a tight match. Appearances On April 5, 2002, Roddick guest-starred on the television show Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as himself, and in the episode, Sabrina summoned him so he could give her tennis lessons. Roddick hosted Saturday Night Live on November 8, 2003, becoming the second tennis player, (the first being Chris Evert) and the first male tennis player to host (while Chris Evert is the first and only female tennis player to host SNL). Roddick is in a This is Sports Center ad with Stuart Scott where he confronts the Sports Center anchor about him not calling him "A-Rod" and asks him "Did Alex Rodriguez put you up to this?" Scott replies "Who?" Roddick says "A-Rod!" Scott gets a sneaky look on his face and Roddick leaves disgusted. The June/July 2007 issue of Men's Fitness magazine carried an article on Andy Roddick. The cover shot featured the tennis ace in a t-shirt straining to contain massive, pumped-up biceps and hulking shoulder and chest muscles. The image set off widespread online speculation that the magazine had altered Roddick's likeness, a suspicion echoed by Roddick himself.
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