ANDY RODDICK

Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American ach time. Roddick is known for his powerful serves and forehands, and holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, clocked at 155 mph (249.4 km/h).

Roddick was on the victorious United States Davis Cup team when it won the 2007 Davis Cup. Roddick defeated Dmitry Tursunov of the Russian Davis Cup team, the defending champions, in the finals.
professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the eighth-ranked player in the world as of November 17, 2008. He finished sixth in the 2006, 2007 ATP Race. He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 U.S. Open. Roddick has reached three other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon twice and the U.S. Open), losing to Roger Federer e

Playing style

Roddick's style is that of an offensive baseliner. Roddick is known for his powerful first serve, which is usually around 130-150mph (209~242km/h), which he uses to earn free points with aces 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 to win aces. 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.


career

2000

Andy Played the Banana Bowl in the city of São José dos Campos and won.

2001

In 2001, Roddick defeated Michael Chang in 5 sets in the second round of the French Open. During Wimbledon, he further showed potential by taking a set from eventual winner Goran Ivanišević. He also defeated 7-time Wimbledon champion and fellow American Pete Sampras at the age of 19 at the Miami Masters in 2001.

2003

Roddick's breakthrough year was in 2003, in which he defeated Younes El Aynaoui in the quarterfinals of 2003 Australian Open. Roddick and the Moroccan battled for five hours, with the fifth set (21-19 in favor of Roddick) being the longest fifth set in a Grand Slam tournament during the open era, at 2 hours 23 minutes. (This was beaten in 2007 during a Wimbledon men's doubles second round match, when Brazilians Marcelo Melo and André Sá beat Paul Hanley of Australia and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe in a 3 hour 5 minute 28-26 fifth set.) Despite a lackluster French Open, Roddick enjoyed success in the United Kingdom by winning Queen's Club and reaching the Wimbledon semifinals where he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets.

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 to hold this rank since computer rankings were started in 1973.

2004

Roddick was knocked out during 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. Later that year, Roddick teamed up with Mardy Fish and Bob and Mike Bryan on the U.S. Davis Cup team that lost to Spain in the final 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).

In 2004 Roddick saved fellow tennis player Sjeng Schalken and other guests from a Hotel fire, including close friends Ben Campezi and Dean Monroe.

2005

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 wouldhave 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[who?] echoed sentiments that 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.[citation needed]

At the 2005 French Open, Roddick lost to the unseeded Argentine José 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. Even though he reached the Wimbledon final and Australian Open semifinals, TENNIS Magazine and others criticized Roddick's poor game in 2005.

2006

Roddick's first ATP event of the year was the Australian Open. There he reached the fourth round before being upset by unseeded and eventual finalist, Marcos Baghdatis. At the French Open Roddick retired in the first round after sustaining a foot injury during the match. Two weeks later at Wimbledon, Roddick was upset in the third round by British hopeful, Andy Murray. This loss caused Roddick to fall outside of the top 10 for the first time since 2002. After Wimbledon, Roddick began working with a new coach, tennis legend Jimmy Connors. In his first event with his new coach, Roddick reached the final of Indianapolis before losing to good friend, and fellow American, James Blake. His resurgence finally came at the Cincinnati Masters, where he won the event by defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, making this his first masters event he won since 2004. At the U.S. Open, Roddick easily won his first two matches against Florent Serra and Kristian Pless respectably. He then played a thriller five set match against Fernando Verdasco winning 6-2 in the final set. Next he played and beat Benjamin Becker who was coming off a huge win against recently retired Andre Agassi. In the Quarterfinals, Roddick beat Lleyton Hewitt avenging his loss in 2002 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Now in the Semifinals for the first time since he won in 2003, Roddick played Mikhail Youzhny and beat him 6-7, 6-0, 7-6, 6-3. Now in the finals of a Grand Slam for the first time since Wimbledon a year ago, Roddick was to play world #1 Roger Federer. He lost however, in four sets. 2-6, 6-4, 5-7, 1-6 was the final score. He then qualified for the year ending Tennis Masters Cup where he lost in the round robin to Roger Federer 6–4, 6–7(8), 4–6 after a tough three set battle.

2007

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. His run ended in the semifinals by Roger Federer, who defeated him in straight sets 6–4, 6–0, 6–2 making his head-to-head record against Federer 1-13.

In first round Davis Cup action, Roddick helped the U.S. defeat the Czech Republic, winning both of his singles matches against Ivo Minář and Tomáš Berdych.

Roddick reached at least the semifinals of his next two tournaments. He bowed out 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 #3 position, his first week inside the top three since March 6, 2006.

At the first ATP Masters Series tournament of the year, Roddick reached the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, where he lost to Rafael Nadal 6–4, 6–3.

Roddick then played the Miami Masters, where he retired from his quarterfinal match against Andy Murray due to a left hamstring injury.

Roddick then helped the U.S. defeat Spain and advance to the Davis Cup semifinals, winning his lone singles match against Fernando Verdasco 7–6(5), 6–1, 6–4. However, Roddick re-aggravated his hamstring injury during the Davis Cup tie 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 this injury.

His next tournament was at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome. After a first round bye, he won his first match against Gastón 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.

Roddick then withdrew from the Masters Series Hamburg tournament because according to his website, he needed time to physically prepare himself for the upcoming French Open. Roddick was seeded third at the French Open tournament, but was eliminated in the first round by Russian Igor Andreev in four sets 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 4-6.

Roddick was victorious at the Stella Artois Championships for the fourth time when he defeated Nicolas Mahut in the final 4–6, 7–6(7), 7–6(2).

At Wimbledon, Roddick was seeded third and considered one of the pre-tournament favorites behind Federer and Nadal. He reached the quarterfinals after wins against Justin Gimelstob of the United States, Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and Paul-Henri Mathieu of France. In the quarterfinals, Roddick lost in five close sets to Richard Gasquet of France 4–6, 4–6, 7–6(2), 7–6(3), 8–6, despite winning the first two sets.

During the summer hardcourt season, Roddick played four tournaments in four weeks. Roddick made it to the semifinals of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, where he was upset by Frank Dancevic of Canada 6–4, 7–6(1). The next week, however, Roddick claimed his second ATP title of the year by winning the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. for the third time when he beat American newcomer John Isner 6–4, 7–6(4). He then lost in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal to Novak Đoković and in the third round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio to David Ferrer of Spain.

At the U.S. Open, Roddick defeated Gimelstob in the first round 7–6(6), 6–3, 6–3. He won his next three matches, one in straight sets and the other two when his opponent retired. In the quarterfinals, Roddick once again lost to Federer 7–6(5), 7–6(4), 6–2 bringing his head-to-head record with Federer 1-14. There were no breaks of serve and only one break point total in the first two sets, that being on Federer's serve.

Two weeks later, Roddick anchored the U.S. Davis Cup team during its 4–1 semifinal defeat of Sweden. Roddick won both his singles matches, opening the tie with a defeat of Joachim Johansson 7–6(4), 7–6(3), 6–3 and clinching it with a 6–2, 7–6(3), 6–4 victory over Jonas Björkman. This is the ninth time in nine tries that Roddick has clinched a tie for the American team.[citation needed]

Roddick's would then set his sights on the Madrid Masters, but he pulled out, citing a knee injury. At his next tournament two weeks later in Lyon, France, Roddick lost in the first round to frenchman Fabrice Santoro 7–6(5), 2–6, 6–4. Roddick then withdrew from the Paris Masters, incurring a $22,600 fine for not fulfilling his media obligations at the tournament.

At the season ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Roddick defeated World No. 4, Nikolay Davydenko 6–3, 4–6, 6–2 in his first round-robin match and then defeated Fernando González in his next match to become the first player to qualify for the semifinals of the tournament. In his third and final round-robin match, Roddick lost once again to Roger Federer 6–4, 6–2 for the 15th time in 16 career matches. In the semifinals, Roddick lost 6–1, 6–3 to #6 seed David Ferrer, who had won all three of his round-robin matches. This was Roddick's third semifinal finish out of the last five years at the Tennis Masters Cup (He reached the semifinals in 2003 and 2004, withdrew in 2005, and failed to advance to the semifinals in 2006 after a 1–2 round-robin record).

Roddick finished the year by helping the United States defeat Russia and win the 2007 Davis Cup, its 32nd Davis Cup victory but first since 1995. Roddick won his rubber against Dmitry Tursunov 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 before James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan completed the victory. Having secured the tie with an unassailable 3–0 lead, Roddick decided to sit out his second singles match of the tie.

2008

Roddick started 2008 strongly, defeating Croatian Ivan Ljubičić 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 Lukáš Dlouhý of the Czech Republic 6–3, 6–4, 7–5. In the second round, he defeated German Michael Berrer 6–2, 6–2, 6–4. He then lost to the # 29 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the third round in a 5 set match 4–6, 6–3, 6–7(9), 7–6(3), 6–8. Despite losing, Roddick served a career high of 42 aces in a match.

Roddick won his 24th career title and his 3rd title at the SAP Open in San Jose, California. He defeated the Czech Radek Štěpánek 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 López 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.[10] Roddick would continue to be coached by his brother, John Roddick. He then fell to former world #2 Tommy Haas at the Indian Wells Masters in the 2nd round, 6–4, 6–4.

At the 2008 Miami Masters, Roddick advanced to the semifinals after defeating 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 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 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 Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.

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 is his earliest exit at Wimbledon.

Roddick was beaten at the Toronto Masters 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. However, he has stated in an interview that the neck injury has nothing to do with his shoulder injury.

Roddick did not participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics, with his reason being to concentrate on the 2008 US Open.[11]

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, Washington, D.C. At the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, Roddick lost to Juan Martín del Potro in the final, losing 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 at 1-2.

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. This 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 Tomáš 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 Gaël Monfils in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 3-6. Two weeks later, Roddick would reach the quarter finals 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 Roger Federer but retired due to an ankle injury and was replaced by Radek Stepanek.

He hired Larry Stefanki as his new coach and started working with him on December 1 ahead of the 2009 season. Stefanki, has previously trained John McEnroe, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Fernando González, and Tim Henman. Under his guidance both Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov became world number one.

2009

After losing the exhibition championship Capitala World Tennis in Abu Dhabi, Roddick begins his 2009 career by joining the ATP World Tour 250 series Qatar ExxonMobil Open, along with top seeds Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. He defeated Ivan Navarro 6-1, 6-3 in the first round in 61 minutes. Next, he played Frenchman Arnaud Clement and won 6-3, 7-5. In the Quarterfinals, Roddick beat Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2. In the Semi finals he beat Monfils in a closely fought match 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a final with Andy Murray.

Davis Cup

With his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu on April 13, 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.

His second singles victory in three days for his country, he was held to 17 aces, down from 30 against Michaël Llodra a few days before.

Roddick improved to 29-9 for the United States in Davis Cup matches, trailing only John McEnroe (41) and Andre Agassi (30). His win against the 12th-ranked Mathieu was part of a strong month in which he beat the tour's top three players -- Roger Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Equipment

Roddick uses the Pure Drive Roddick Plus Cortex Racquet with Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour string (yellow color), a signature racquet designed for him by racquet sponsor Babolat, which is slightly heavier (11.9 oz), stiffer (Babolat RDC index 72) and longer (27.5") than the standard Pure Drive Series (11.3 oz, Babolat RDC 71, 27"). This racquet is designed for a strong service due its weight, stifness and length.According to Tennis Warehouse, the best one for this fundamental.

Roddick also uses Babolat Propulse tennis shoes which are Roddick's signature gear.In matches, Roddick wears shirts, shorts and caps manufactured for him by Lacoste. He formerly wore Reebok. He strings with a custom hybrid (Pro Hurricane Tour + VS). Roddick's tension varies but he mostly strings his racquets to a tension of roughly 64 or 65 pounds.