Roddick is the best tennis player in the world in 2003 – then came Federer

Unforgotten

Andy Roddick is the best tennis player in the world for one summer – then comes Federer

August 10, 2003: Andy Roddick wins his first Masters 1000 title in Montreal. On the way to this he beats – another first – Roger Federer. But it is only a flash in the pan against the slowly beginning rule of the Swiss.

The tennis years 2002 and 2003 are transition years. Eight Grand Slams, eight different winners: Back then, no tennis player was able to win two big titles in one season. But after the end of the era around Pete Sampras and André Agassi, there were signs in the late summer of 2003 that another American could climb the tennis throne for a long time: Andy Roddick.

The then 21-year-old hard hitter signed Brad Gilbert as a new coach after the French Open. Success is immediately apparent under the former Agassi coach. Roddick wins the Queens lawn tournament and only fails at Wimbledon in the semifinals on eventual winner Roger Federer, who can finally celebrate his first Grand Slam title.

The fourth defeat in the fourth duel against Federer is dismissed as a slip. In fact, the American’s soaring continues at the beginning of the US hard court season. The 1.88-meter-tall man wins in Indianapolis and travels with confidence to Montreal with the tenth tournament victory of his career in his luggage.

First win against Federer as a wake-up call

At the Rogers Cup, Roddick played his way into the semi-finals as if in a frenzy, where Roger Federer was waiting again. And in the fifth attempt he finally gets his first victory: “A-Rod” wins 6: 4, 3: 6, 7: 6 and seems to have finally put his Federer trauma over. In the final, Roddick doesn’t give David Nalbandian a chance thanks to his brute serve and celebrates his first Masters 1000 title.

When Roddick also triumphed in Cincinnati, the American tennis world was completely over the moon in the run-up to the US Open. In Flushing Meadows, the newcomer should finally follow in the footsteps of Agassi and Sampras, who is celebrating his big farewell from the tennis circuit at the beginning of the tournament.

Together with Anna Kournikova and André Agassi, Roddick appears at a charity event before the start of the tournament. Everyone wants something from him, the expectations and the pressure on the 21-year-old are huge. But Roddick doesn’t show anything. One after the other, he easily clears Tim Henman, Ivan Ljubicic, Flavio Saretta, Xavier Malisse and Sjeng Schalken out of the way, before suddenly trailing 0-2 in the semifinals against Nalbandian.

When Roddick was 3-0 behind in the tie-break of the third set, the dream of the first Grand Slam title almost seemed to have burst. But the shooting star shows one of the best comebacks in tennis history. Roddick fends off a match point, wins the tie-break and finally wins a well-deserved 6: 7, 3: 6, 7: 6, 6: 1, 6: 3.

Brad Gilbert’s fatal error

The final against Juan Carlos Ferrero will be a very one-sided affair. With his aces number 21, 22 and 23 – the speed measurement shows 217 to 225 km / h every time – Roddick ends the game after only 1:42 hours. 23,000 fans in the sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium cheer for the first major title of their new favorite and hope that they have witnessed the beginning of a new era.

Roddick tries to dampen expectations: “I won a Grand Slam tournament and I’m a very good tennis player. But I’m not Tiger Woods. ” But his trainer Brad Gilbert sees no reason to hold back: “I think this is just the beginning. Many more big titles will follow. Andy is incredibly talented. He only turned 21 eight days ago. There is nothing that he cannot improve. “

Federer always stands in front of the sun for Roddick

But Roddick does not do justice to the advance praise. In November 2003 he will be the second youngest number one in the world after Lleyton Hewitt. But after only 13 weeks he has to give up the tennis crown again. And forever. After his Australian Open title in 2004, Roger Federer takes the lead in the world rankings and will not give it up for 237 weeks. After him, only Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray make it to the top.

And Federer later becomes a major trauma in Roddick’s career. After his win in Montreal, he lost eleven times in a row to the maestro before finally winning again in Miami in 2008. At the end of his career it is head-to-head against the record Grand Slam winner 3:21. Roddick loses four Grand Slam finals against the Swiss: 2004, 2005, 2009 at Wimbledon and 2006 at the US Open.

Andy Roddick resigns in 2013. The win at the 2003 US Open was to be the only major title of his career. But at least he can tell his grandchildren that he was the best tennis player on the planet for a whole summer during Roger Federer’s career.