Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick (born August 30, 1982)
is an American professional tennis player and a
former World No. 1. He is the top-ranked American
player and sixth-ranked player in the world as of
November 12, 2007. 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. He has reached three other Grand Slam finals
(Wimbledon twice and the U.S. Open), losing to Roger
Federer each time, and has not beat Federer since
2003 Montreal AMS.
Roddick is known for his powerful serves and
forehands. He holds the fastest serve recorded in
professional tennis, clocked at 155 mph (249.4
km/h). He has broken his own record three times.
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.
Andy Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska to Jerry
and Blanche Roddick. Roddick's father was a
businessman, and his mother 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.
Roddick lived in Austin, Texas until he was 11, then
moved to Boca Raton, Florida, where he lived until
graduating from high school in 2000. He later moved
back to Austin.
Roddick is often called "the other A-Rod", a
reference to baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez
already having that nickname. Roddick is also known
for his sense of humor, and is often overheard on
television trading jokes with the crowd during
matches. 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.
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. In matches Roddick wears
shirts, shorts and caps manufactured for him by
Lacoste. He formally used to wear Reebok.
In 2004, Roddick produced the fastest serve in
professional tennis: 249,4km/h (155 mph) during a
Davis Cup semi-final match with 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, 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.
Roddick's style is that of an offensive baseliner.
Roddick uses powerful forehands and accurate first
serve, 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.
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.
