Roddick reveals when he knew Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were from another planet

Andy Roddick announced his retirement from tennis in 2012, archiving his career with a Slam title (the US Open), 32 trophies on the ATP circuit and a Davis Cup defending the colors of the United States. Unfortunately for him, he found himself playing in the same era as the sacred monsters Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

'A-Rod' reached four other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open in 2006), losing to nemesis Roger Federer every time. Roddick was ranked in the year-end top 10 for nine consecutive years (2002–2010) and won five Masters Series titles in that period. Roddick was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 22, 2017 alongside Kim Clijsters of Belgium.

In a recent interview, the American revealed when realised Djokovic, Federer and Nadal had moved the game to another level. "Anyone who says someone can get from five to 20 is lying to you," the former World number 1 said on Tennis Channel. "I just don’t think that’s a conversation that seems real.

I feel like these guys are playing Xbox sometimes the way they go about their business. I remember playing Novak in 2012 at the Olympics second round. I was unseeded but had won two of the last three tournaments I’d played in so I was feeling great and I felt that Wimbledon was somewhere I could still go on a bit of a run.

Novak is someone I’d had a decent record against at that point and he beat me like a drum. I was like a child on the court. I lost two and two on grass. I was serving average – that’s not good to do against Novak. He just beat me like a drum. That was one of the first times I was like, this game is getting a little bit different to what I was used to. These guys are from another planet right now. That one hit home for me. The way he was playing in that moment was eye opening."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3dE74O2