"Like Steph Curry being able to shoot a 30-footer...scared the living s**t out of me" - Andy Roddick recalls 1st sighting of John Isner's feared serve
Andy Roddick recalled the first time he saw John Isner in action and how Isner's serve scared him. Roddick likened Isner's serve to NBA legend Stephen Curry's three-point shots, opinion that it was a weapon that simply couldn't be defended against.
In his prime, Isner established himself as a top player in both singles and doubles tennis. He was ranked as high as World No. 8 in singles, while in doubles, his career-high ranking was World No. 14. Over the course of his career, Isner won 24 titles on the ATP Tour, with 16 of them coming in singles.
Isner's serve, especially, is widely regarded as one of the best in tennis history. To this day, he holds the record of having served the most aces on the ATP Tour (14,470). Additionally, his 157.2 mph piledriver during his first-round match at the 2016 Davis Cup is the third-fastest of all time.
Recently, Isner joined former World No. 1 Andy Roddick on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast. At one point during their conversation, Roddick recalled Isner's breakthrough tournament in Washington DC back in 2007. This is where the 2003 US Open champion saw Isner in action for the first time, and he immediately came to the conclusion that his tall's compatriot's serve was something "different".
"I remember the first time I saw you play was your breakout week in DC in 2007 and I'd heard that there's this mammal who can serve 50 aces a match, out of the University of Georgia, and I'd heard your name. Then I remember you playing that week and beating basically every good player 7-6 in the third, but I remember seeing your serve and I'm going, 'Oh! This is different,'," Roddick said (15:15).
The former World No. 1 went on to compare Isner's serve to NBA legend Stephen Curry's trademark three-point shots, which have seen the Golden State Warriors point guard being hailed by many as the greatest shooter in basketball history. Roddick also said that even though he himself was renowned for his serve, Isner's serve scared him.
"It's like Steph Curry being able to shoot a 30-footer. How do you defend that? And I go 'Oh shit! This is different'. Like I had a big serve and I'm going, 'I'm Tito and he's Michael. This is a different animal, because he's doing the exact same thing, but from 7 feet', and it scared the living shit out of me," Roddick added.
Andy Roddick congratulated John Isner after the latter announced his retirement from tennis in 2023
Ahead of the 2023 US Open, John Isner announced that last year's edition of the prestigious hardcourt Major would mark his last outing as a tennis player. Soon after his compatriot's announcement, Andy Roddick took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate hm for his achievements in the sport.
"Love ya big guy. Give ‘em hell next week. Don’t forget to take all of the looks around. Congrats on a great run. See you on the other side," Roddick wrote.
Isner's singles campaign at the 2023 US Open came to an end in the second round, where he lost to Michael Mmoh in five sets on Thursday, August 31. His tennis career officially came to an end on the next day, after he and partner Jack Sock lost their men's doubles first-round encounter against Albano Olivetti and Robert Galloway.