"Couldn't believe we were about to play for that money" - Andy Roddick recalls losing to Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells & playing doubles 1 hour later
Andy Roddick has recalled feeling a mixture of emotions after losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the 2009 Indian Wells Masters. The American had to appear for the men's doubles final of the tournament around an hour after his semifinal defeat.
Roddick was seeded seventh in the tournament, and his biggest scalp came in the quarterfinals as he ousted third seed Novak Djokovic. However, in the semifinals, the American was no match for Nadal.
The top seeded Spaniard punished Roddick by relentlessly hitting his forehands to the American's backhand side. Nadal won 6-4, 7-6(4), improving his head-to-head against Roddick to 5-2, and eventually winning the tournament after defeating Andy Murray in the final.
While Roddick left the court in disappointment after the semifinal loss, he did not have much time to dwell on it. As it turned out, the American was slated to play the men's doubles final alongside Mardy Fish against Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram on the same day.
Roddick recently recalled the situation in an episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast. First, the American touched on his feelings in the aftermath of his loss to Nadal.
"I remember losing to Rafa at the semis and then coming off and I was like, "Okay, we have an hour until we play doubles", and you know, I'm like mad I lost to Rafa. It's the only North American event that I didn't end up winning," (18:04).
Next, the 2003 US Open champion remembered being surprised during a conversation with Fish ahead of their doubles final.
"I come off the court and I said to Mardy, "What do we get if we win this match?", and he told me the number and I couldn't believe we were about to play two sets and a tiebreaker for that sum of money."
Roddick and Fish went on to win the men's doubles final against Mirnyi and Ram 3-6, 6-1 [14-12].
Andy Roddick on The Netflix Slam - "I don't think it was a great match"
Rafael Nadal recently faced Carlos Alcaraz at The Netflix Slam, an exhibition event held at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Andy Roddick was a part of it as well, as he joined Andre Agassi to commentate on the match.
Roddick later reflected on the match in the Served with Andy Roddick podcast. According to the former ATP World No. 1, the match lacked quality despite serving up plenty of drama.
"I don't think it was a great match from the kind of the balls and strikes of it. But the drama was high; Rafa saves five match points,"