Andy Roddick’s racket bears the weight of a five ton sledgehammer. Not because he has not won a major in nine years, but because he held the title of America ’s best in tennis.
Now, it appears that the weight of expectations has finally proved to be too much for Roddick. The former U.S. Open winner will retire at the end of this major; the one that made him famous.
When Roddick hoisted the U.S. Open Trophy in 2003, he also held the future ofU.S. tennis in his grasp. Roddick was supposed to carry the torch of American tennis Andre Agassi and John McEnroe once held. He certainly was talented enough.
In his prime Roddick was quite good. His serve went from zero to 155 miles per hour at the bat of an eyelash. His slices cut through the hard surfaces of the RCA Championship, the Canadian Masters, and the other 30 tournaments he won.
Yet in an era of legends, quite good was never good enough. Roger Federer won more majors than any other tennis player in history. When Federer didn’t win, his rival Rafael Nadal did. When Nadal didn’t win, Novak Djokovic did. Despite Roddick’s talent, one man’s good is not enough to best another man’s great.
There were not enough major titles for Roddick once Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic started reeling them in. Sure Roddick is 5-4 career against Djokovic, yet the Serbian has five major titles at age 25 compared to Roddick’s 1 at age 30.
As for Nadal, Roddick is 3-7 all time against the Spaniard. Nadal also has ten more majors than Roddick; and they have both been playing for 13 years.
The closest Roddick ever came to besting one of the three giants of the game was in the titanic Wimbledon Final against Roger Federer in 2009. In that four hour slugfest, Roddick’s serve was broken only once; for the championship point that gave Federer more majors than anyone else.
Roddick was never able to reach the plateau of greatness that the three kings occupy today. Yet that is not his fault. There are other good athletes that are overshadowed by great ones.
Golf’s sentimental favorite is the perfect example. Phil Mickelson is a very good golfer with four major titles. However, for the better part of the new millennium, he has had to carry Tiger Wood’s jock strap; just like the rest of the field. It’s nobody’s fault, it was just Tiger was so great for so long.
Roddick suffers the same fate as lefty. His really good play was overshadowed by the greatness of others. Both Mickelson and Roddick both have emptier trophy cases because of greater players. Neither of them is at fault for winning more because really good does not beat great in the world of sports.
This summer will end with Roddick hanging up his racket. Even though Roddick will always be remembered for how he lost, A-Rod will never forget that glorious day in 2003 when greatness was his.
