Andy Roddick – “Roger Federer Understands The Power That He Has”

Published 06/28/2019, 2:25 PM EDT

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Out of their 24 meetings on the ATP Tour, Andy Roddick could pull off his victory thrice against the Swiss great, Roger Federer. One of his biggest upsets was his third Wimbledon final loss to Federer in 2009 where Roddick lost 5-7, 7-6(8-6), 7-6(7-5), 3-6, 16-14 to him. Till date, the match remains the longest men’s Grand Slam final in history and longest final set ever played in a men’s major final.

Andy Roddick retired from the singles circuit in 2012, and recently he spoke about Federer.“My biggest source of jealousy is watching him practice, and it’s free and it’s easy,” Roddick said. “It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of stress the day before a slam. He’s still saying hello to everyone in between points and he’s able to kind of operate with this ease and calmness.”

In the mystical final match, Roddick controlled in the major part of the match and whereas Federer produced some memorable tennis in the tiebreakers. In the third set tiebreaker, the Swiss was trailing behind by 6-2 and Roddick has four sets points, but with Federer fulfilling his lag six consecutive points escalated the rapture on Wimbledon’s Centre Centre.

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In the revered final set, Andy Roddick had two opportunities to serve for the match, but Federer was determined for his sixth title on the British turf and denied the greatest ATP server to move closer towards his first Wimbledon title. Federer could only break the American once in the entire match at 14-15 and later, that break of serve assisted him to surpass Pete Sampras’ all-time record of Grand Slams. 

via Imago

It was a poignant moment in Roddick’s career as he became the only player in the history of tennis to lose a Grand Slam final despite dropping just a service game. And Andy Roddick holds a standalone record of winning maximum games (39) in a major final, but those games weren’t enough to hold the gentlemen’s singles trophy on the Centre Court.

It was definitely a record-breaking episode for Federer, but respecting the emotions of his opponent, the Swiss kept in winning moment celebrations subtle in SW19. As Federer instantly realised the fact that, it was a happy moment for him but it was tougher for the American, Andy Roddick who lost.

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The last American ATP player to win a Grand Slam, Andy Roddick revealed about Federer’s opinion about himself. Definitely, Federer doesn’t consider himself to a regular tennis contender and Roddick believes that he doesn’t take his skills for granted.   

“I don’t think he’s naive enough to say, ‘Oh, I’m just another guy playing tennis’,” Andy Roddick continued. “He doesn’t think that and he shouldn’t because he’s not. But I think he understands the power that he has and I think he is inherently a really, really true, honest, good person.”

via Imago

Roger Federer has arrived at All England Club and he is ready to lift up the record bars in men’s tennis. By advancing into the semifinals at Wimbledon 2019, he will be the first man to achieve 100 match wins at a Grand Slam event. Presently the second seed holds a 95-12 win-loss record on the grass courts of SW19.

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Lukas Pouille is expected to be Federer’s first seeded opponent in the round three of Wimbledon Championships 2019.

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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