Why Andy Roddick said he was ‘frustrated’ with Rafael Nadal after their first ever match back in 2004

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Andy Roddick embarked on his first and only Grand Slam title defence at the 2004 US Open.

The year prior, Roddick clinched a maiden major crown in front of a home crowd at Flushing Meadows, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final to hoist the trophy aloft.

His pursuit of going back-to-back, which ultimately ended in the quarterfinals, began with four comfortable straight-set victories, the first of which was against a fellow American, Scoville Jenkins.

Roddick‘s second win in New York that year was a dominant triumph over a teenager who would ultimately go on to become one of the greatest players in the sport’s history: Rafael Nadal.

Nadal, 18 at the time, was making just his fourth appearance at a Grand Slam and had come through a tough five-setter with qualifier Ivo Heuberger to set up a first career meeting with the reigning champion.

The Spaniard gave his all against Roddick, and although he made the third set slightly more competitive, he was ultimately swept aside 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.

Andy Roddick’s reaction to playing Rafael Nadal for the first time

After meeting him for the first time, Roddick had high praise for Nadal, but admitted he was frustrated during the bout.

When asked in his post-match press conference if he was ‘ticked off’ with his opponent’s fist pumping, the US star responded: “No, I’d be hypocritical if I said anything.

“I think more than anything, it was just me being frustrated with the way he was playing there in the third set.

“On the court, you might not like it, but I respect it. I like someone who’s that competitive.

“He’s down two sets to love, he’s getting a pretty good whooping, and he’s still in there fighting every point, living and dying every point. That’s going to bode well for him in the future.”

It certainly did bode well for him in the future of their head-to-head, with Nadal coming out on top in seven of their next nine tour-level meetings.

What Andy Roddick said Rafael Nadal’s main strengths were

Heading into the tournament, Nadal was not entirely unheralded in the tennis world, having beaten then-world number one Roger Federer earlier in the season at the Miami Open.

With Nadal’s promising results that year, Roddick said he was slightly surprised by how things went in the first set of their US Open match.

He explained: “I’ve played a lot of guys who, the first time they step out on that court, they’re a little anxious.

“I felt like I was hitting the ball great in the first set. Obviously, that being said, if you had asked me beforehand if I would have won the first set 6-0, I would have said you’re crazy. But that’s just the way it went out there tonight.”

Roddick said of Nadal: “He gets a lot of action on his ball. He gets a lot of work on it. The wind was kind of blowing towards the commentary boxes tonight.

“When he would kind of take a rip from the side with the wind, it was tough for me to get a hold of it. You know, he competes. He wants to win every match, every time. You know it’s not going to be easy. I see a lot of good things there.”

Nadal ultimately secured 92 titles in his career, including 22 Grand Slams, while claiming a record 14 Roland Garros crowns.