Former world number 1 tennis player and winner of the US Open in 2003, Andy Roddick revealed he was suffering from skin cancer. The 41-year-old American had never spoken about it until now, and mentioned it for the first time in his podcast “Served with Andy Roddick” last week. “I have suffered from different types of skin cancer since I stopped playing. I had a squamous cell tumor removed from my lip five or six years ago,” he explained.
Roddick also brought a message of prevention to parents of young tennis players. “Use sunscreen. And put sunscreen on your kids – especially on the tennis court. The problems do not appear at the age of eight, but perhaps at 38,” he insisted in his video. He appears there with a red face, due to the use of lasers as part of his treatment.
During his career, which ended in 2012, the American won a US Open in 2003 and played in four other Grand Slam finals. He lost each time against Roger Federer, three times at Wimbledon (2004, 2005 and 2009) then in 2006 at the US Open. He was particularly renowned for his very powerful serve.
