What Novak Djokovic did at the 2012 Olympics in London which left Andy Roddick completely stunned

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Novak Djokovic has won more Grand Slam titles than anyone else in the history of men’s tennis, and continues to compete at the highest level.

The ATP Tour has been blessed with several stars in recent years but arguably none have shone brighter than Djokovic’s.

The 37-year-old has won 24 Major titles during his time in tennis, most recently winning the US Open in 2023.

He was unable to add to his tally in 2024, however, as Djokovic’s defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final was the closest he came to Grand Slam success.

There were moments to celebrate for the Serb, who enjoyed a strong summer finally bringing home the title that had long evaded him.

Djokovic won Olympic Gold at Roland Garros earlier this year, fulfilling a lifelong dream after failing to win the title in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021.

It was in one of those years of ‘failure’, however, that he left one of his biggest ATP rivals completely stunned.

Defeat to Novak Djokovic at the London 2012 Olympics was ‘eye opening’ for Andy Roddick

Speaking on the Tennis Channel back in 2020, former world number one Andy Roddick recalled a match he played against Djokovic in 2012, that left him stunned.

“I remember 2012 at the Olympics I played Novak [Djokovic] second round,” he said.

“I was unseeded but had won a couple of weeks before and had won two of the last three tournaments I played at.

“I was feeling great and felt that Wimbledon was a place where I could still maybe catch lightning in a bottle and go on a bit of a run.

“I was feeling great in practice that week.”

Roddick was hoping for good things in his final Olympic outing, but things quickly unravelled.

“Novak was someone who I had a decent record against to that point and he beat me like a drum,” said the 2003 US Open champion.

“I was like a child on the court, I lost two and two on grass.

“Served averagely, which isn’t a good thing for me against Novak, but I walked off court and thought I am going to go out tomorrow and feel like I am playing well and he just beat me like a drum.”

Roddick knew at that moment that he didn’t have too much time left at the top of men’s tennis.

“That was one of the first times, the US Open was a couple of months later, but that was one of the first times I was thinking this game is a bit different than what I have been used to,” he said.

“These guys are kind of from another planet right now, the way he was playing in that moment was eye opening.”

Andy Roddick’s remarkable head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic

Whilst Roddick’s last outing against the Serb didn’t quite go to plan, he did score some fairly impressive wins over Djokovic during their time on tour together.

Roddick trails the head to head with the other two members of the ‘big three’, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal, but faired a lot better against the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

• Andy Roddick 3-21 Roger Federer
• Andy Roddick 3-7 Rafael Nadal
• Andy Roddick 5-4 Novak Djokovic

The American won five matches against Djokovic, as he edged the head to head against one of the greatest of all time.

Despite losing their last two encounters, Roddick enjoyed a lot of success against the Serb, winning four consecutive matches between 2009 and 2010.

Remarkably the pair never played a deciding set against one another, coming closest at the 2008 US Open, when Djokovic sealed the match in a fourth set tiebreaker.

Roddick and Djokovic’s rivalry was always exciting, and didn’t need to go the distance to thrill fans during their nine encounters on the ATP Tour.

The American retired from tennis upon the conclusion of the 2012 US Open, whilst Djokovic is set to return at the Brisbane International next month, having not played since defeat in Shanghai earlier this year.