Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal enjoyed one of the most exciting rivalries in tennis history, which then evolved into a three-way battle with the arrival of Novak Djokovic. Between the three, they broke records and won more Grand Slam titles than any other man in the sport. That’s why Andy Roddick is now jokingly calling them “greedy.”
Speaking to People Magazine, the 42-year-old former athlete recalled the three Wimbledon finals that he lost to Federer, and said that if he could have won any match, he would have chosen any of them. “I would’ve been happier, have no regrets. I’m not greedy like the rest of these guys, like Rafa and Roger. And Novak,” Roddick joked.
“I only wanted one more. If I could have won two more points at Wimbledon, I think I would think backwards a lot less,” he admitted. However, Roddick said that he is “proud” of his career, in which he won the US Open and spent 13 weeks as the World No. 1. “I rest well at night,” he told the magazine.
Roddick is still the last American man to have won a singles Grand Slam title, when he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3 of the 2003 US Open. Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz is the last man to have reached a major final, after he lost the 2024 US Open title to Jannik Sinner.
Apart from the three Wimbledon finals (2004, 2005, and 2009) he lost, Roddick also lost a US Open final to the Swiss in 2006. Apart from his one major, he also won five Masters titles and was also a key player in the U.S. Davis Cup team’s successful run to the title in 2007.
Federer has said that Roddick could have change the course of history
Despite his impressive record of 20 Grand Slam titles, Roger Federer is considered to have won his first major title “late.” The Swiss legend, who won the Wimbledon Juniors title in 1988, finally was able to win his first title in London in 2003, at 23 years old. And he did it beating Roddick in the semifinals.
Speaking with Tennis Channel back in August, Federer said that if Andy had played with Wilson at the time, he probably would have beaten him. “I think he probably would have beaten me in the 2003 Wimbledon semis and then what would have happened is that then I would have probably thought that I can’t win Wimbledon and then I would have never won Wimbledon,” Roger Federer said, in a jokingly manner.
“So, he had a lot to do with it if he would have changed to Wilson much earlier… He could have broken me down early enough before I got on the run of you know the five in a row there in 2003. So, he had the chance to stop it,” he added.
History would never know.