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Andy Roddick

Roddick at the 2004 Rogers Cup
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Austin, Texas
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	2000
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Prize money	$12,011,546
Singles
Career record	361 - 115
Career titles	21
Highest ranking	No. 1 (November 3, 2003)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (2003, 2005, 2007)
French Open	3rd (2001)
Wimbledon	F (2004, 2005)
US Open	W (2003)
Doubles
Career record	44 - 34
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 87 (August 18, 2003)
Last updated on: January 29, 2007.

Andrew Stephen ("Andy") Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the top-ranked American player and third-ranked player in the world. He finished sixth in the 2006 ATP Race.

Roddick is known for his powerful serves and forehands. He also holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, clocked at 153 mph, or 246.2 km/h.

Early life and family

Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised in Austin, Texas and Boca Raton, Florida. He splits time between Austin and Boca Raton. Roddick's father, Jerry, is an investor, and 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, currently owns and operates the Roddick-Moros International Tennis Academy in San Antonio, Texas, and was Andy's coach following his split with Dean Goldfine. His oldest brother, Lawrence, is a chiropractor in San Antonio and was an accomplished springboard diver and a member of the U.S. Senior National Team.

Career

2000 through 2005

Roddick turned professional in 2000 at the age of 18.

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 Ivanišević.

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 Roddick was the longest fifth set in a Grand Slam tournament during the open era, at 2 hours 23 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, 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 and second-youngest player (behind Australian Lleyton Hewitt, aged 20 years, 8 months) to hold this rank since computer rankings were started in 1973.

Roddick was unexpectedly knocked out of the 2004 U.S. Open in a five set quarterfinal against another big server, Joachim Johansson. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Roddick lost to Chilean Fernando González, the eventual bronze medal winner, in the third round. Roddick was part of a U.S. tennis delegation that included Taylor Dent, Mardy Fish, Vince Spadea, Bob and Mike Bryan, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams, Chanda Rubin, and Lisa Raymond. Later that year, Roddick teamed up again with Fish and the Bryans on the U.S. Davis Cup team that lost to Spain in the finals in Seville. Roddick lost his singles match against Rafael Nadal, who would in the following year win the French Open. By the end of 2004, Roddick fired his coach of 18 months, Brad Gilbert, and hired assistant Davis Cup coach Dean Goldfine. Roddick finished 2004 ranked as the world's No. 2, the U.S.'s No. 1, and the player with the most aces (1017).

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, 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. Roddick said that he was just saving the umpire a trip.

At the 2005 French Open, 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 Gaël Monfils to wrap up a tournament without losing a set or getting his serve broken. Despite reaching the Wimbledon final and Australian Open semifinals, TENNIS Magazine and others criticized Roddick's poor game in 2005.

2006

At the Australian Open, 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, Roddick lost to Romanian 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, Roddick lost to Spanish veteran David Ferrer in a quarterfinal of the NASDAQ-100 Open, a Masters Series event.

At Queen's Club in London, 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.

Roddick reached his first ATP final of the year at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, losing to Blake 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.

Roddick sustained a side injury during a tournament in Los Angeles, which sidelined him from the tour for two weeks. He rebounded from this at the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Murray 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals and then outplaying Fernando González 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).

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, 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 Ljubičić. 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

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.

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.

Roddick's next Davis Cup action will be in the quarterfinals, as the U.S. meets Spain at home beginning April 6, 2007. The U.S. is looking for its first Davis Cup championship since 1995. In first round action, Roddick helped the U.S. defeat the Czech Republic, winning both of his singles matches against Ivo Minar and Tomas Berdych.

Public expectations

Roddick has been under the media spotlight to perform well in the tradition of his immediate predecessors in American tennis: 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 Roddick lacks diversity and aggression on his backhand side and relies 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.

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. Roddick has now joined forces with Lacoste. Roddick also released a cologne with Parlux Fragrances in early 2006.

He is currently using the Pure Drive Roddick Plus Racquet, a signature racquet designed for him by racquet sponsor Babolat. Roddick also uses The Team All Court Roddick Babolat tennis shoes which are Roddick's signature gear.

Playing style

Roddick's style is that of an offensive baseliner. His most dangerous weapon is his first serve, when he tends to use his powerful and accurate service to either earn free points with aces/unreturnable serves, or put himself into position to hit a forehand winner. For his second serve, Roddick usually employs a heavy topspin 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. Roddick will also occasionally use the serve and volley tactic on both first and second services to surprise his opponent, though he generally prefers to remain back 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. Though such a tactic has come to become expected by most opponents, they often struggle so much with returning his serve that they are unable to recover fast enough to chase down his following shot.

Though Roddick's return game has been labeled his greatest weakness, this aspect of his game has vastly improved in recent months. Under the tutelage of coach Jimmy Connors, Roddick has transformed his two-handed backhand and volley, arguably his worst two shots, into more reliable shots.

Trivia

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles.

• In 2004, Roddick produced the fastest serve in professional tennis: 246.2 km/h (153.5 mph) during a quarterfinal match with Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan at the Queen's Club grass-court tournament. On August 31 of that year, Roddick had the fastest serve in U.S. Open history: 244 km/h (152 mph) against American Scoville Jenkins.

• 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.
• After winning the 2004 NASDAQ-100 Open tournament, Roddick opened trading on the NASDAQ on August 20, 2004.
• Roddick 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.
• Roddick won the 2004 ESPY Award for Best Male Tennis Player.
• In 2005, 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.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2003	U.S. Open	Juan Carlos Ferrero	6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3

Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2004	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-4
2005	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	6-2, 7-6(2), 6-4
2006	U.S. Open	Roger Federer	6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

ATP Tour titles (24)

Singles wins (21)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	23 April, 2001	Atlanta, USA	Clay	Xavier Malisse	6-2, 6-4
2.	30 April, 2001	Houston, USA	Clay	Hyung-Taik Lee	7-5, 6-3
3.	13 August, 2001	Washington, USA	Hard	Sjeng Schalken	6-2, 6-3
4.	18 February, 2002	Memphis, USA	Hard	James Blake	6-4, 3-6, 7-5
5.	22 April, 2002	Houston, USA	Clay	Pete Sampras	7-6(9), 6-3
6.	19 May, 2003	St. Pölten, Austria	Clay	Nikolay Davydenko	6-3, 6-2
7.	9 June, 2003	London, United Kingdom	Grass	Sébastien Grosjean	6-3, 6-3
8.	21 July, 2003	Indianapolis, USA	Hard	Paradorn Srichaphan	7-6(2), 6-4
9.	4 August, 2003	Montreal, Canada	Hard	David Nalbandian	6-1, 6-3
10.	11 August, 2003	Cincinnati, USA	Hard	Mardy Fish	4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4)
11.	August 25, 2003	U.S. Open, New York City, USA	Hard	Juan Carlos Ferrero	6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3
12.	9 February, 2004	San José, USA	Hard	Mardy Fish	7-6(13), 6-4
13.	22 March, 2004	Miami, USA	Hard	Guillermo Coria	6-7(2), 6-3, 6-1, Ret.
14.	7 June, 2004	London, United Kingdom	Grass	Sébastien Grosjean	7-6(4), 6-4
15.	19 July, 2004	Indianapolis, USA	Hard	Nicolas Kiefer	6-2, 6-3
16.	7 February, 2005	San José, USA	Hard	Cyril Saulnier	6-0, 6-4
17.	24 April, 2005	Houston, USA	Clay	Sébastien Grosjean	6-2, 6-2
18.	6 June, 2005	London, United Kingdom	Grass	Ivo Karlović	7-6(7), 7-6(4)
19.	7 August, 2005	Washington, USA	Hard	James Blake	7-5, 6-3
20.	30 October 2005	Lyon, France	Carpet	Gaël Monfils	6-3, 6-2
21.	20 August, 2006	Cincinnati, USA	Hard	Juan Carlos Ferrero	6-3, 6-4

Doubles wins (3)

• 2001 Delray Beach
• 2002 Houston
• 2006 Indianapolis

Singles runner-ups (11)

• 2002: Delray Beach (lost to Davide Sanguinetti)
• 2002: Canada Masters (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: Canada Masters (lost to Roger Federer)
• 2004: Bangkok (lost to Roger Federer)
• 2005: Wimbledon (lost to Roger Federer)
• 2005: Cincinnati Masters (lost to Roger Federer)
• 2006: Indianapolis (lost to James Blake)
• 2006: US Open (lost to Roger Federer)

Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. This table is current through the 2007 Australian Open, which ended on January 28, 2007.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

ATP Tour career earnings

References

1. ^ The fastest serve in the world
2. Roddick plans more risk, seeks more rewards ahead-December 26th, 2005
3. Roddick fires Goldfine; brother to coach-February 9th, 2006
4. Update: Connors Joins Team Roddick-July 24th, 2006
5. Connors hones A-Rod's game-January 22, 2007
6. 152mph Roddick records fastest US Open serve-2 Sep 2004
7. Andy Roddick's profile at IMDB
8. Sabrina, The Teenage Witch-Episode 136, Season 6

External links

• Official website
• Andy Roddick at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Andy Roddick Foundation
• Andy's U.S. Olympic Team bio ... with links to photo gallery
• Andy Roddick Fan: a fansite
• In losing a match, Roddick became a true sportsman, a May 2005 article written by Frank Deford
• Roddick reverses form on the lawns
• Time for Roddick to Stop Slide
• Andy Roddick on IMDb

• 1982 births
• American tennis players
• Living people
• Olympic tennis players of the United States
• People from Omaha, Nebraska
• People from Nebraska
• Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• US Open champions