Andy Roddick: The tennis sensation from America
Andrew Stephen Roddick was born to Jerry and Blanche on the 30th of August, 1982 in Nebraska, USA. Pet named “A-Rod”, Roddick burst onto the professional stage in 2000 at the age of 18. Only a year earlier, Roddick was seriously considering abandoning the idea of a career in tennis following a string of losses in the junior competitions. Yet his coach, Tarik Benhabiles, motivated the struggling teenager to step up his performances and in 2000, Benhabiles’ mentorship bore fruit when Roddick finished the year as the world number one in the junior circles. The American had landed 6 world junior singles trophies and 7 doubles triumphs in addition to taking the Australian Open and U.S. Open junior singles titles.
In the following year, Roddick further consolidated his position as a potent force after overcoming former French Open winner Michael Chang in spite of his relative incompatibility with clay courts. Roddick made waves when, at 19, he got the better of 7-time Wimbledon victor, Pete Sampras at the year’s Miami Masters. The young American truly came into his own in 2003 after demolishing Younes El Aynaoui at the Australian Open quarterfinals in what may aptly be termed as a thriller of a battle that lasted five hours. That year, Roddick went as far the Wimbledon semi-finals’ where he ultimately fell to Roger Federer. Roddick made the Swiss sensation pay for the loss by getting the better of the then world number three in Montreal. The 21-year-old Roddick concluded an excellent year ranked as the number one tennis player in the world - the only American to have achieved the feat since Andre Agassi in 1999.
However, Roddick lost the top spot to Roger Federer in February 2004 after the Swede won the Australian Open title. Roddick then made it to the first Wimbledon final of his career, eventually losing out to Federer once again. The American concluded the year ranked second in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) world rankings. In 2005, Roddick took the SAP Open title in San Jose, California, and also bagged the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon title after overcoming Gael Monfils in straight sets.
After a patchy start to the 2006 season, the American stepped up his performance to take the Cincinnati Masters title after demolishing Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero. Roddick advanced all the way to the U.S. Open finals, where he was to be seen off by world number one Roger Federer. Roddick’s Swedish nemesis would once more thwart his ambitions by defeating him at the 2007 Australian Open semi-finals’ showdown. Roddick also crashed out at the semi-final stage of the 2007 Pacific Life Open in California, where he was defeated by world number two, Rafael Nadal. Although the remainder of the American’s 2007 campaign was somewhat dogged by injury, he made an assured start to the 2008 season after winning the AAMI Kooyong Classic for the third successive year by routing Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. However, injuries returned to force Roddick out of the year’s French Open and Cincinnati Masters tournament as he struggled to find winning form. The American then proceeded to clinch the 26th ATP trophy of his career at the China Open in Beijing where he got the better of Dudi Sela in the final showdown.
In 2009, a resurgent Roddick landed his first trophy for the year at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in the U.S. In the same season, Roddick made it to the final of the coveted Wimbledon event, only to be defeated by Roger Federer for a third time in the All England Club Championship final showdown. The ongoing 2010 campaign has seen Roddick clinch the Brisbane International and the Sony Ericsson Open titles.
Meanwhile, Roddick has also distinguished himself as a tennis sensation. In 2006, he made it to the People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” release. Founder of the Andy Roddick Youth tennis program, Roddick is a notable philanthropist as well. Currently, Andy Roddick is preparing for the upcoming U.S. Open 2010 which is going to mark the end of the tennis season.
Tags: