Andy Roddick was not popular amongst all of his peers when he arrived on the ATP Tour as a 17-year-old in 2000.
Roddick was known for his big serve, ending his career with the sixth most aces in ATP history (9,076).
The highlight of the American’s career came in 2003, when Roddick won the US Open after beating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final.
When reminiscing back on his career, Roddick admitted that not everyone was a fan of his presence when he first turned professional as a teenager.
Andy Roddick says Yevgeny Kafelnikov was not nice to him when he first broke through
When speaking on his podcast, Roddick and guest Kim Clijsters discussed Aryna Sabalenka’s speech after losing the Indian Wells final.
Sabalenka was criticized after the Australian Open final, but had a more calm reaction after her defeat in California.
This is something that Clijsters and Roddick noticed, as they praised Sabalenka’s humorous speech after losing to Mirra Andreeva and suggested that it was nice to see something a bit different.
“I like Sabalenka, who was like I hate you guys right now to your team,” said Cljsters. “It’s so automatic pilot a lot of times. I want to think my team etc.
Roddick responded, “I thought that was a great moment when the camera angle and Sabalenka was right behind Andreeva on the post game.
“I also think it’s a really good look for Sabalenka. She can go crazy, throw a racket and be very intense. It seems like she can be very upset [after she loses] but it’s almost like she gets the moment.”
Andreeva won her Indian Wells at 17-years-old and appears to be a popular figure, with Roddick going onto speak about his own experience as a teenager arriving on the ATP Tour.
While the American explained that some players were very welcoming towards him, Roddick revealed that two-time Grand Slam champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was less so.
“I can remember the players that were really nice to me when I was 17 or 18,” said Roddick. “Jonas Bjorkman was beyond nice, [Tim] Henman was super nice.
“And then I remember the players who were kind of d****. Kafelnikov. I like Yevgeny now, we get along great! But there were the guys who were really salty because it was like you were trying to get a piece of their lunch. But good for Sabalenka, I thought it was a good look.”
Although they were both on the ATP Tour for three years together, Roddick and Kafelnikov never played a professional match against one another.
How old was Andy Roddick win his first ATP Tour title?
Andreeva is the youngest Indian Wells champion on the WTA Tour since Serena Williams in 1999, and is the same age that Roddick won his first ATP match at the Miami Open in 2000.
Despite having a 47% win-loss record at Roland Garros by the end of his career, and never surpassing the fourth round, Roddick’s first two ATP titles came on clay courts in April 2001.
The first of those was when Roddick was 18-years-old at the clay court tournament in Atlanta, which was the final edition of that event.
Nine years later Atlanta began hosting a hard court tournament, that was coincidentally the final singles title of Roddick’s career in 2012.
The Atlanta Open has now officially been cut from the ATP calendar after Yoshihito Nishioka won the final edition in 2024.
Roddick’s first ATP Masters 1000 title came at the Canadian Open, after he beat David Nalbandian before going onto win the Cincinnati Masters and then his only Grand Slam title at the US Open.
The former world number one was never able to win Indian Wells, reaching his only final in 2010 where he lost to Ivan Ljubicic, but was twice champion at the Miami Open.
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