How Good Was Andy Roddick Actually?

How Good Was Andy Roddick Actually?
From possessing one of the most powerful serves in the game to winning 32 singles titles, the former world number 1 left an indelible mark in the sport and created some records that might take a while to be broken. Let’s see what made Roddick so special.
Inspired by How Good Was John McEnroe Actually?
Inspired by How Good Was Björn Borg Actually?
Inspired by How Good Was Michael Chang Actually?
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In this video we go over
#andyroddick #roddick #tennis

[@tenzinlee6393]

3:13. "He replaced a poor backhand with a better backhand." This is a really smart tactic change and one that I recommend to all players with a poor backhand.

[@muskylounger]

That's a bold strategy cotton! Let's see if it pays off for him!

[@Dave-lr2wo]

Not so fast. A lot of players have replaced a mediocre backhand with a semi-OK backhand and gone on to play slightly the same. I'd recommend this strategy unreservedly.

[@therealbs2000]

3:19 He also replaced his risky forehand with a topspin overhead smash! Truly an innovator this roddick

[@Michael-uk3pj]

I'm gonna try it!

[@jonathanvelazquezph.d.2719]

He had 4 dreams: 1. Becoming world #1 2. Winning the U.S. Open 3. Winning Wimbledon 4. Winning the Davis Cup 3 out of 4 is awesome! People dream to have his career. The 2009 Wimbledon Final has to hurt him like the 2019 Wimbledon Final has to hurt Federer. Tennis is such an weird sport sometimes where the margins are so thin yet they can determine the victor. Statistically, one can be the better player but that will not guarantee you the match.

[@George-x2z]

spme people have his prime age 30 and this man retire was absolute madnes

[@t14dann18]

You don’t “score” an ace. You hit an ace

[@angel91485]

regardless, he's still a Grand Slam Winner, nothing to be ashamed of..One major win was a world of difference being a Grand Slam from being never a Grand slam winner.

[@huzcer]

Nalbandian really choked that 2 set lead there in 2003.

[@Michael-uk3pj]

And he was world no 1

[@bernardwalker4282]

He got it in just in time!

[@thenbaplayoffs2020]

5-4 vs the GOAT too

[@angel91485]

@@bernardwalker4282 yes, but can't blame him for that. his training was based on beating players during the Sampras era, which was ruled by serve and volley..it would just be so hard to undo or unlearn that after integrating those skills during his earlier years..

[@brandtbrian123]

1:21 Targeted the two corners to win aces..... Whoever edited this doesn't play tennis

[@jaquan6499]

Andy Roddick may not have been the most accomplished, but he was one of the most consistent players ever. He won at list one title and multiple finals every year until he retired and made at least a grand slam QF every year. As well as stayed within the top 10 for majority of his career. So he's definitely earned his due.

[@huzcer]

but his backhand was relatively quite poor and a source of a lot of points for good opponents. Roddick only has himself to blame there.

[@foodreacts837]

He accomplished what others couldn’t

[@diegobarreto8662]

well he had the priviledge and the misfortune to be there at fed s prime! and he suffered the consecuences

[@chrisf9156]

​@@huzcer yes, but would add that his earlier coaches did nothing to help there either. Gilbert focused so much on his net play only to have the courts slowed down immediately after. And that strategy really hurt his odds of beating Federer in any case.

[@patriceaqa288]

​@@chrisf9156for me if roddick had adapted his game as he did under stefanki earlier, around 2006/2007/2008 I believe he would've won two more slams

[@kedrprao]

As a Roddick fan, 2009 Wimbledon Final loss was absolutely gut wrenching. I legit wept when he lost.

[@matmac888]

The rain delays ruined his momentum against Fed

[@sachinpaul2111]

Plus one. I’ll never forget that day. I was 13 and couldn’t hold it in .

[@JK-vc7ie]

What does that mean, a Roddick "fan"? Are you a grown man?

[@Rory626]

There were no rain delays, they had a roof over Centre Court by 2009 ​@@matmac888

[@astrahcat1212]

Same

[@emmanuelororho7455]

The game of tennis as we know it is ever transforming, Federer is retired and the big 4 is no longer what it used to be. I absolutely love videos like this, reminds of the of the incredible talents of old. We owe our passion for tennis to you. Thank you!

[@nikhilissar9839]

djokovic is still going strong lol

[@kingkyrgios]

Same, I grew up in this era and miss it so much 😢

[@markaven5249]

He was absolutely insanely talented, I was a huge fan of him, naturally being an American. He also went 3-21 h2h against prime Federer.

[@iwituazon10]

He's 6'2" btw. Andy Roddick, i grew up idolizing him.

[@Lil7672]

Prime Andy was a force on tour, for about 2-3 seasons, he was actually solid as the 2nd best player on non-clay surfaces after roger before rafa and nole figured it out. It it wasn't for his prime overlapping with roger and young rafa, i can definitely see him snagging 3-5 slams during his career

[@roberthale2268]

The last truly great American player IMO.

[@astrahcat1212]

If Federer hadnt been the goat of the 2000s, he might have been the goat of the 2000s

[@UchihABitachi]

Andy Roddick is one of the most beloved players on the tour like the narrator said, humble, resilient , & always had a never say die attitude. One of the best servers in the game & could’ve won so many titles if not for Federer, then Nadal, and eventually Murray & Djokovic. Even so he almost clinched the 2009 Wimby final vs Federer in the most impressive finals I’ve ever seen him play. He got unlucky with a bad bounce. It was tough bc I really wanted to see him win that. He deserved it.

[@jonathanvelazquezph.d.2719]

True

[@icefalcon2243]

He is an amazing tennis player and one of the best to have ever played the game! Watched him his entire career and it was pure tennis entertainment no question

[@raelerminy1859]

One of my favorite players ever.

[@kumar01234]

He's the last great American tennis player. While he only won 1 grand slam the number of Finals he's been to he's Def in that upper echelon of great American players and we just haven't had that yet since him.

[@grade12purity41]

he was so dependent with his serve.... i always supported him but ended up being disappointed

[@dennisdavidov782]

You should feature Marat Safin next.

[@malcolmnorman5694]

It's been 20 years since an American won a major 🤦🏾‍♂️😒

[@EPIGOLD]

Andy Roddick - unbeaten in the press room

[@jaychung1380]

612-213 (74.2%) is not a bad record to retire on…

[@sergevanderpluijm]

He was very good, but not the most naturally talented player from that time. He made up for that with his serve and his mentality. Always fighting, physically fit. His ground strokes were nothing special though. And the game slowing down during his career didn’t help him either. I also feel he became more and more of a pusher as he got older. I think he was better when tried to play a big game.

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

Andy Roddick is probably the most tragic tennis player of all time bc he had to compete against the big 4 (especially Rafa and Roger, so many losses suffering against Roger). The fact that he won just one major doesn't tell the whole story. He reached world no.1, won 32 career titles, 5 ATP 1000 masters titles, and 4 major finals (all losing to Roger). In terms of records, he's on par with Dominic Thiem, or actually even better because Roddick was in top 10 for nine consecutive years (2002-2010). People underestimate Roddick calling him a "one-slam wonder" without any knowledge whatsoever. He's nowhere near a pushover. Had he had better backhand and net game, he would have had won more majors.

[@kingkyrgios]

Great statement

[@tobiasgoldman]

Totally agree with that exhaustive analysis. He is very far from a One Slam Wonder. If it wasn't for his facing Federer he would have had maybe 6 Slams or so. Also no 1 spot and 5 Masters Titles. Roddick himself says that Medvedev is way better than he was but I'm not exactly sure why.

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

@@tobiasgoldman Different eras and different players with different court surfaces. I think what Roddick meant by saying that Medvedev is way better than him is that Medvedev has the potential to go further than Roddick ever did. Honestly, Medvedev and Roddick are two different types of players and I cannot emphasize enough that Roddick was robbed of all those major titles' runs because of the unforgiving Roger Federer in his prime years. Roddick's matchup and match compatibility against Federer were probably the worst you could ask for, kinda like Federer against Nadal. Like, Federer got so used to Roddick's game that I reckon that Federer literally read Roddick's shots and anticipated nearly 70-80% of them. And unfortunately, so did other players the more they faced Roddick. So yeah, Roddick is probably the unluckiest player of all time to have run into the said Federer with all of Federer's peak abilities during 2004-2007. Roddick honestly should've beaten Federer at the 2009 Wimbledon final but by that point you could see that Federer was hanging over Roddick's head although Roddick by then figured out finally how to beat Federer on that day plus Roddick's serve was just monstrous in that match. I'd argue that Medvedev's game definitely has the potential to further Roddick's accomplishments because one of Roddick's main weapons, his forehand, clearly declined starting in 2004 after splitting with Brad Gilbert. Roddick couldn't hit flat forehands with heavy topspin as often as he could like in 2003 US open, although his fitness in 2009 was much better than his previous years and his backhand also improved in that season. Roddick's prime forehand was like some baseball batting, it's ridiculous how good his forehand was. It was more talked about than Federer's forehand before Federer had a dominant 2004 season. Medvedev's game is also more sustainable and better suited to playing long 5-set matches unlike Roddick, who relied hugely on his serve but that got well-exploited by his opponents throughout the match because of the predictable trajectory, like Phillip Kohlschreiber at 2008 AO. Medvedev is actually crazy smart for orchestrating his game by adapting it to different styles, be it aggressive baseliner or pusher or counterpuncher, add to that the depth in his shots with hilariously annoying flat trajectory and pace that gives his opponents nothing to work with. The problem is that he doesn't really have a finishing weapon, and I think he couldn't finish the business against Sinner at the AO final this year, it was a burnout.

[@samsmith8415]

He actually holds a 9 to 5 advantage on djokovic though

[@samsmith8415]

He somehow lost a match where he wasn't broken until 13 to 14 in the 5th set.

[@mashizzung9990]

3:20 Do you believe his forehand changed helped Roddick? I personally will chose Roddick at 2004 Wimbledon Finals over 2009 every time

[@huzcer]

should have worked on that really terrible backhand instead tbh

[@MrPeterJin]

And to think some people think he wasn't a good player... the quality of the points he played against the top players are overlooked. He did lose many games but the points played were almost always high-quality.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

The man beat Dave Portnoy with a frying pan. Greatest Achivement.

[@RapotatoGAMING]

Dudes. Im spreading the message of the "baseline closest to you phenomenon" The lower the camera, the more it happens. It is a perspective issue. When the camera was low like this, balls that look inside the line or on the line are actually in, this only happens for the baseline closest to the camera though. Please help spread the message. This is even more true in actual tennis play, because humans are looking from a even lower vantage point, which means if you are standing behind someone and they call it out, but it looks way in, please account for the perspective issue. The ball has to look about a inch inside of the line for the ball to actually be in if you are looking at the baseline closest to you.

[@clemenx]

Roddick, Nalbandian and Davydenko probably would have 3-4 slams each if they didnt coincide with True Peak Federer. Gonzalez, Berdych, Blake. Should have had 1-2. Safin and HEwitt would probably have a couple more. How Federer flat out deleted a complete generation from the history books isn't talked enough, and in turn it has made him underrated to people who think only big 3 era matters.

[@federicotown8052]

One of the best serves ever !

[@huzcer]

and probably the worst backhand ever to make it to world no.1

[@252Ron]

Growing up, Andy Roddick was my favorite American and Nadal was my favorite foreigner! They're the reasons I love clay and hard court!

[@virginfitness]

If Andy Roddick never hired Brad Gilbert, he would have won five to ten Majors including several Wimbledons, Australian Opens, and US Opens. When Roddick hit the scene, he was a pure gun slinger. The role matched his personality and mechanical strengths while hiding his weaknesses. Going big early in points fell out of favor due to Brad Gilbert’s coaching. Gilbert attempted to transpose his style on Roddick which opened Roddick up to extended points and uncovering his subpar backhand to any and all opponents. Sadly this choice robbed Andy of the Tennis Achievements we saw in his future when he bested then #1 Pete Sampras at Key Biscayne and went on the USOpen title before the Gilbert strategy hamstrung his game, making him a perineal doormat to the top tier players. This is a cautionary tale for tennis coaches everywhere. First, do no harm.

[@davidhunternyc1]

True or not. Andy Roddick had *THE* most powerful serve in history? Who served harder, Andy Roddick or Boris Becker? Is there anyone else who currently serves harder? How did Andy's placement of serves compare to the best in the game? I remember after Andy's US Open win, he was on David Letterman and looked shellshocked. It was amazing to watch, as if he too couldn't believe his own accomplishment. David Letterman said to Andy, "The world is your oyster." Unfortunately, this was his only major win. Doesn't matter. People don't appreciate the Herculean effort it takes to win just one major. On that day, you ARE #1 in the world. Andy Roddick earned and deserves our respect. This video made me cry. I bow.

[@saadk72510]

he was my favorite player when i was growing up. Watched every grand slam match of his, cried when he lost to Federer in that crazy final :(

[@capnrob97]

Roddick's only problem was he come along right when Federer basically became an unbeatable superman.

[@nikolaip5834]

your intro was spot on!! (about him retiring early, feeling nostalgic 10 yrs later etc)

[@kirkcornelius1074]

A lot of tennis is the era you play in. To me Roddick was much better than a Llyeton Hewitt but his timing just wasn’t as good

[@GeorgeCaulfield1]

He was basically the offensive version of andy murray. Great player that was completely overshadowed by legends.

[@justinsarchive4111]

Only thing I never understood was why he didn't flatten his forehand out more. He started rolling his forehand in way too often leaving it short and easily attackable. I think if we would have stayed more aggressive and flatter with that shot he would have 2 or so more slams

[@Meowth88]

32 titles including a grandslam. That's a legend. Great appearances at Wimbledon too

[@mustafa_sakalli]

Too bad his flat monsterous forehand turned into a crap loopy spin forehand. Gasquet made the same shit and never became a contender for big titles. During Roddicks year flat forehand and serve + 1 game was legit, I wish he focused on that more

[@dimitarandreev6267]

If A. Roddick is not an American...? Such players as Roddick was , are at least more than 100 in the tennis history. Poor technique, poor mentality, poor at all.

[@Rorshacked]

Why at 1:20 did you put the X's at the corners of the baseline instead of the corners of the service boxes?

[@Coa_Kralj_Coa_The_King]

He has something what Roger and Rafa will never have!!! Positive H2H against Goat 🐐 Novak

[@chrisf247]

That Wimbledon final vs Federer remains the most heartbreaking moment in tennis

[@user-be5qg7mr1s]

He one of the best serves of all time...he made the wimbledon final 3 times. He deserved at lost 1 wimbledon title

[@Bhavik630]

Even as a. Federer fan i remember rooting for Roddick in 2009 match

[@ebadd3468]

Not very, he couldn't even volley. In todays game he might be ranked in the top 50 . . . might.

[@TimothyTaylorson]

And to be honest, Rodick was the sexiest player of his era. Just saying 😈

[@kataisa3]

A highly underrated tennis player who would've won far more grand slam titles if it weren't for that F* guy.

[@jonathanvelazquezph.d.2719]

😂 I love the fact that we can complete the F word with two possible options

[@jefflo1487]

andy rockdick is my 10th favourite player

[@tendergoaltender]

Learn how to pronounce Isner and you dont score aces, you hit aces.

[@jonnymallett108]

Wasted potential in my opinion should of won a hell of alot more 💯🙄

[@eltonalonsopompeu615]

Overachiever. He had a serve and a dream. Fantastic mentality. Not the most talented guy but his attitude compensated for it. An admirable player

[@jaychung1380]

612-213 (74.2%) is an absurdly good record to retire on.

[@yeeeaaahmayneee3808]

How is he an overachiever ?

[@shafqatishan437]

Roddick is 6'2" not 1". Roger & Rafa are 6'1"

[@act318]

Always loves watching Andy play. Such an inspiring and unique serve, great personality and consistency. He was just born in the wrong Era!

[@634983]

Connors killed his forehand. He lost his weapon after that

[@EternalLife42]

Does Rodger Federer know that he's a Fed error. He's a robot.

[@jncn12]

how many aces? vegeta - over 9000!!!!

[@stex5026]

As accomplished as Roddick has been, as a professional player, he did appear to be somewhat mono-dimensional: big serve and big forehand. 2:41 underrated volley skills and net game?! That's not what I remembered. He hired Connors as his coach to devise attack-after-the-serve... But Roddick never appeared to be a natural smooth mover who felt comfortable at the net. And it also seemed that opponents were able to read and block his serves more consistently toward the late 2000's, and that really diminished Roddick's advantage. And then he also didn't seem to be a savvy tactician (just keep bombing and hitting harder) either... Still, people do find a soft spot for Roddick, for obvious reasons (he is just a great guy!).

[@huzcer]

his low quality backhand was his biggest issue by far

[@edujgr1978]

He born in a wrong era. In 90s he had won at least 5 majors

[@angel91485]

he was a good player, but he had many chances and losses not under the hands of Roger or Rafa, Rafa didnt start winning in other majors other than French, til 2008.. I think regardless of era, that's his most potential, 2 Slams maybe at the most.

[@huzcer]

tbh, the quality of his backhand was on him, whatever the era.

[@guruk]

Tbh he wasnt consistent. Zverev stef and thiem are better players than him. He wud have 0 slams in 2010 to 2020 eecade

[@sasook]

@@gurukWasn’t consistent? He was in the top 10 for over a decade straight, & made at least 1 major QF every year. 5 major finals & a few other semis lost to his kryptonite Federer. The 3 you listed can’t go 3 majors in a row without losing early.

[@robs2341]

Man was #1 in the world haha that’s how good he was

[@316Autos]

In a world without the big three, Roddick wins 4-6 slams, has a heck of a rivalry with Hewitt and Murray, and goes down as one of the best American players of all time. Federer just had his number, and he had the misfortune of playing Federer in 4 slam finals and a couple of semi finals.

[@edmonds8890]

stiffler playing tennis

[@alejandrocrespo7633]

I learned to serve watching Roddick.

[@streetfightsguild7480]

23-3 against Roger.. not good

[@koryaiine7393]

Andy is a great tennis player. :)

[@federicotown8052]

Too bad he did not win more than one major

[@malcolmnorman5694]

Blame the big 3 😁

[@federicotown8052]

@@malcolmnorman5694 yes more blame Federer hahahahaha

[@malcolmnorman5694]

@@federicotown8052 cant argue with you there

[@Courtside_Tennis]

lol

[@huzcer]

blame his backhand.

[@SilverbackOrangutan71]

Andy....the great what if.....

[@Grivian]

The first tennis match I ever saw was Roddick vs Ferrero in 2003. Roddick's huge serve and forehand and him winning the US open made me an immediate fan. It was the playstyle that I liked the most and I thought he was the best at that time. Then some weird guy with a pony tail came and beat Roddick in every match which was not fun. He couldn't even beat him in wimbledon which should have been his best surface. I still remember watching Federer vs Roddick in Wimbledon 2009 with my dad. I was screaming at the tv many times when Federer won an important point or if Roddick missed a chance. That match made me so angry and I think Roddick deserved to win.

[@paddaman2003]

Serious over-achiever considering he literally had one shot.

[@geza1014]

Probably the dumbest comment in a while

[@Coa_Kralj_Coa_The_King]

I like Andy, his body language, his movement, sweats 😅But then, when he get after Novak my feelings change a bit. But now, he’s biggest and loudest Novak fan❤

[@kenkozawa9810]

Roddick arguably best pound for pound server of all time. Forehand will go down as one of the best, even if greatly overshadowed by Rafa's and Roger's. His backhand slice was also lowkey one of the best slices in the modern game, it was right behind Roger's during their best years together. Would be fun to imagine Roddick being born later and playing in the game right now, he would easily be America's best player and I think he would have more success at the slams since aside from Novak and Carlos, not many good returners on the tour atm...

[@lszujo73]

Roddick was great....unfortunately he was in the wrong place in the wrong time....should have won 4ü5 GS ,but Fed was coming around

[@Coa_Kralj_Coa_The_King]

One more thing! He should win that 2009 Wimbledon final! Roger was so lucky that day!

[@rushrush1209]

Huge serve and forehand. He also had a mediocre backhand at best. Return of serve was so-so. Still a US Open champion and many years in the top 10. He was a victim of the big 3 too often. Played in the wrong era.

[@徐偉傑-m6u]

3:13 The main reason Roddick cannot be able to against Top Players is the forehand changed. In his early career, he has a monster forehand but changed to with more top spin, this was a bad choice. I believe you definitely remember the shot before he goes to the net, the shot he made by forehand with a weak top spin, and he went to the net then got a passing shot by competitor. I'm Roddick fans since 2004 Queens Club, but really not love to see he changed the style from his advantage to weakness.

[@diegosotomiranda4107]

Not tjat good lkke usa fanbiys wanted make him, limited player whi was surpased by a better generation...

[@superRDF91]

Roddick truly was unlucky first in being the "next-up" American after an era of all-time greats and ending up playing against Federer for the prime of his career. That 2009 final was a heartbreaker and a one of the biggest sports what-ifs for me. Certainly in tennis.

[@tchattell123]

Roddick was a sensational player, wish we could have seen him play until his late 30s

[@RenegadeRanga]

Wimbledon 2009 was a colossal tennis match. I cant even imagine what it felt like for him. With a backhand like Federer and a couple of other adjuments i wonder what he could have done.

[@danielterry382]

He was better than giving credit for as he was up against two of the all time greats in Pete and Rodger.

[@christophernicolson5086]

When you base you game on such a weapon it becomes a hindrance at the top end. Ground strokes needed more work to dominate more.

[@GenericYoutubeUserName]

How many slams would Roddick have if Federer didn’t play tennis?

[@CorinMusic2012]

He was my absolute favourite player of the era. I was so gutted in the 2009 final. He so deserved to win.

[@Thomas-bq4ed]

one of the greats, If Roddick was on tour today he is top 5, I have no doubt.

[@therazgriz9]

My all time favorite " Andy Roddick" i used to watch him from Pakistan

[@michaelsheedy]

I have seen him play on the senior tour, and he still has the big serve. But Tommy Haas is the king of the senior tour and could still play on the main tour if he wanted to. He is that good.

[@Greebstreebling]

imo from here in the U.K., he was brilliant - witness the wimbledon final against Roger Federer.

[@mq46312]

30 was a pretty young age to retire.

[@commodorezero]

By todays standards and the standards of other sports yes historically no. 30 is more or less the typical age tennis stars retire.

[@sasook]

Even by today’s standards not really. Most players are a complete shadow of themselves by the time they hit their 30s. The big 3 are 1) freaks, not the norm, & 2) were aided by an extremely weak ATP tour for the last 8ish years.

[@Kidgloves1984]

Charismatic, funny, genuine, great serve, big forehand and of the most competitive players in tennis history. Always exciting to see Arod play!

[@guruk]

Roddick was as consistent as sascha or thiem or stef. He was tat good.

[@jeffreykwon6360]

Literally, my heart would ache when he would lose against Federer or Nadal, not because he was losing but because I could see that he was giving all despite the differences in grace or talent. I cheered so much for him knowing that he would lose to the Big 2 at that time. He may not be the most talented but he is a man of heart.

[@varunshahvo-tv9854]

No backhand...no volley

[@suda2849]

A truly incredible player

[@johnromberg]

I was going to say "that didn't age well @4:21". But this was published three weeks ago! Are you people high?! That's "arguable" only in the sense that anything's arguable, as long as you're not bothered by revealing your lunacy to the world.

[@sasook]

It is arguable though, there are way too many factors to consider to ever decide on 1 person

[@hasiemwily1947]

He was just unlucky that he had to compete in the same era with somebody like Federer, beside he was expected to perform the career to be compared with his Great predecessors such as Agassi Sampras in maintaining champion tradition in Tennis USA..

[@huzcer]

the quality (lack of obviously) of Roddick's backhand was not luck.

[@supermovietimebros6770]

Not good

[@philipbrowne7620]

Great player! Unluckily played in the era of the likes of Federer.

[@huzcer]

his really poor backhand wasn't unlucky

[@guruk]

1 word - SERVEBOT