"Last thing I want to have to do is defend Roger Federer after he ruined my life" - Andy Roddick recalls sticking up for Swiss amid retirement talk
Andy Roddick recently reflected on defending Roger Federer against suggestions of retirement.
Federer hung up his racket in September 2022, ending his illustrious career at the age of 41. Before his retirement, there was widespread conjecture about when he should choose to step away from the sport due to his diminishing results on tour, with many suggesting that he should have done so sooner.
Andy Murray finds himself in a similar situation, facing calls for retirement due to his recent struggles with form, with concerns raised about his legacy. However, Andy Roddick and tennis journalist Mark Petchey defended the Brit against such criticism on the latest episode of the 'Served with Andy Roddick podcast.'
Petchey also pointed out that Murray's predicament mirrored Federer's experience and questioned why players were subjected to such scrutiny regarding their retirement decisions.
"This isn't unique to Andy Murray right? This comes up a lot of times. Roger got it plenty. Why do fans do this? What do you suppose that the motivation is?" he said (at 42:30).
In response, Roddick recalled a press conference where he faced a barrage of questions about Federer slipping down to World No. 3 and whether the Swiss legend should consider retirement.
While the American humorously lamented having to defend the 20-time Grand Slam champion given the Swiss legend's dominant winning record against him, he hit back at the journalists over their remarks.
"I had a moment in a press conference where I got chippy about Roger. And the last thing I want to do in a press conference is have to defend Roger after he ruined my life for a decade even though I love the guy. It was basically a lot of questions, it was like three or four questions in a row about, 'What should Roger do? He's down to No. 3 in the world,'" Roddick said.
"And I go, 'How many journalists are in here right now?' And there was like 10. I go, 'Then 30% of you should leave right now and never write another story.' But we're pulling from a talent pool of like of worldwide professionals that have actually proven that they're the best at what they do," he added.
A brief look at Roger Federer and Andy Roddick's rivalry
Roger Federer and Andy Roddick locked horns in 24 tour-level encounters during their careers. The Swiss legend dominated their rivalry, emerging victorious on 21 occasions and losing only three matches to the American.
The duo faced each other eight times at Grand Slam events, with Federer triumphing in all eight clashes. The 20-time Grand Slam champion also defeated Roddick in four Major finals. Furthermore, all three of their meetings at the year-end championships also went the way of the Swiss legend.
Their final tour-level encounter took place in the third round of the 2012 Miami Open, where Roddick claimed a hard-fought 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4 victory over the former World No. 1.