Roddick should have retooled not retired.

MasturB

MasturB

Legend
Has as good of a serve as Ivo. Better server than Feliciano and Muller. Both aren't really serve and volleyers just guys who can s&v.

Rodd had a better game than either of those 3 from the baseline.

In this era he probably would thrive if he just cut points shorter.

I'm not sure why in his later playing years he chose a Coach like Stefanki who wanted him to grind rather than someone who'd get him to stop spinning that forehand and go for it like Lendl did to Murray.

He could have gotten someone to have him come in more off his serve.
 
D

dgold44

G.O.A.T.
MasturB said:
Has as good of a serve as Ivo. Better server than Feliciano and Muller. Both aren't really serve and volleyers just guys who can s&v.

Rodd had a better game than either of those 3 from the baseline.

In this era he probably would thrive if he just cut points shorter.

I'm not sure why in his later playing years he chose a Coach like Stefanki who wanted him to grind rather than someone who'd get him to stop spinning that forehand and go for it like Lendl did to Murray.

He could have gotten someone to have him come in more off his serve.
Click to expand...

Andy actually had a great variety of shots and always worked on improving
I think the devastating fed loss at Wimbledon kind of mentally bankrupt him
 
FD3S

FD3S

Hall of Fame
heninfan99 said:
It was awful and agassi spoke on it's defects many times
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From what I recall, Agassi commented on the Roddick BH once in 2007 during his match with Federer at the USO. By the time it was fully retooled in 2009 thanks to Connors and Stefanki, it was a consistent, solid shot that was better than its 07 incarnation and far eclipsed the backhand he used to have in his big hitter days. It was still ugly as sin mind you, but no one was capable of fixing the aesthetics.

As for the actual OP, I don't think retooling would have worked; at that point, the injuries were coming hard and fast, and even with an extended break I'm not sure they ever would have stopped.
 
B

BringBackWood

Professional
Roddick killed his career when he started spinning his forehand in, instead of keeping it as a big weapon. Why didn't Roddick see how close he was in Wimby 04, and see that was the right approach for him?? Keep this aggression & work on his volleys, his backhand, and he would have been a much greater force. The Wimby final in 05 was pathetic from A rod. Nothing for Federer to fear. Just a toy for him to play with.

I have no idea why Roddick didn't see Wimby 04 as encouragement. Instead he sacked his coach and made himself such a soft player, rolling over at Fed's command, and losing to many others who would take advantage of his predictable grinding. If A rod ever releases an autobiography I hope he addresses this change in playing style.
 
MasturB

MasturB

Legend
BringBackWood said:
Roddick killed his career when he started spinning his forehand in, instead of keeping it as a big weapon. Why didn't Roddick see how close he was in Wimby 04, and see that was the right approach for him?? Keep this aggression & work on his volleys, his backhand, and he would have been a much greater force. The Wimby final in 05 was pathetic from A rod. Nothing for Federer to fear. Just a toy for him to play with.

I have no idea why Roddick didn't see Wimby 04 as encouragement. Instead he sacked his coach and made himself such a soft player, rolling over at Fed's command, and losing to many others who would take advantage of his predictable grinding. If A rod ever releases an autobiography I hope he addresses this change in playing style.
Click to expand...

Was he still under Gilbert in Wimby 04?
 
wangs78

wangs78

Legend
He was battling nagging shoulder issues. And as we all know, without his serve Roddick is not a top 10 player. No ex-no. 1 will want to keep playing if he cannot be a top 10 guy and regularly make it into the second of week of Slams (unless you're Jimmy Connors). And that's what Roddick was faced with. At that time, no one had taken 6 months off to get fit like Roger did in '16, so I doubt Roddick thought a break to get his shoulder healed was an option.
 
FD3S

FD3S

Hall of Fame
MasturB said:
Was he still under Gilbert in Wimby 04?
Click to expand...

He was, and it's a shame that the relationship didn't work out; Gilbert got Roddick to play to his strengths instead of what felt comfortable (as a relatively small junior, the consistency/depth game we saw post BG was apparently the way he had played for most of his life before his growth spurt) and while he might have been less consistent and more prone to upsets, he'd have stood a better chance of taking it to the top guys more.
 
14OuncesStrung

14OuncesStrung

Professional
Andy Roddick made some stupid decisions.
He had the game to win Wimbledon. He should have stuck with Gilbert. That '04 final was as good as any battle Federer had with Nadal.
Andy knows it and that's why he threw out most of his trophies. He is haunted by the past.
 
Goosehead

Goosehead

Legend
yes..Roddick was on top of the 2004 Wimbledon final for ages..won 1st set and and 2nd set was v close I think..

he was blitzing his forehand and serve..the crowd were going ooh ahh and so on. Federer did well to fend off the barrage and get the upper hand.
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Goosehead said:
yes..Roddick was on top of the 2004 Wimbledon final for ages..won 1st set and and 2nd set was v close I think..

he was blitzing his forehand and serve..the crowd were going ooh ahh and so on. Federer did well to fend off the barrage and get the upper hand.
Click to expand...

All 4 sets were close affairs. The score went 4-6,7-5,7-6,6-4 to Federer.
 
forzamilan90

forzamilan90

Legend
I agree, but I guess he wanted to give it up. No doubt in my mind, he'd be factor for a few more years after he retired on faster surfaces. His freaking serve was soooooooo gooooooooood. Probably my fave serve motion, along with Fed's (though different).
 
Last edited:
B

BringBackWood

Professional
Goosehead said:
yes..Roddick was on top of the 2004 Wimbledon final for ages..won 1st set and and 2nd set was v close I think..

he was blitzing his forehand and serve..the crowd were going ooh ahh and so on. Federer did well to fend off the barrage and get the upper hand.
Click to expand...

The second set Roddick inexplicably gifted Fed 2 breaks of serve, and actually managed to get them back. Fed was pretty shaken and nervous after the first set Blitzkrieg attack of Roddick. Fed pinched the 2nd 7-5. Andy was a break up in the 3rd set.
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

Bionic Poster
MasturB said:
Has as good of a serve as Ivo. Better server than Feliciano and Muller. Both aren't really serve and volleyers just guys who can s&v.

Rodd had a better game than either of those 3 from the baseline.

In this era he probably would thrive if he just cut points shorter.

I'm not sure why in his later playing years he chose a Coach like Stefanki who wanted him to grind rather than someone who'd get him to stop spinning that forehand and go for it like Lendl did to Murray.

He could have gotten someone to have him come in more off his serve.
Click to expand...
Roddick was slowsly physically breaking down at the end. When he beat Federer in Miami he was barely serving 200 kph. He couldn't handle full seasons anymore, and probably would've benefited a lot from playing a reduced schedule, but he couldn't commit to a full season anymore. I think he's actually said that after a while off the Tour he could serve his old numbers again.

Muller, Lopez etc are all more natural net players than Roddick ever was. Roddick tried that for years, I don't think he had a lot of margin as a net player.

He had a lot of margin left as a ball basher, it's how he won his last matches over Nadal and Federer, and yet he never went back to it. I will never be able to wrap my head around that.
 
D

dgold44

G.O.A.T.
14OuncesStrung said:
Andy Roddick made some stupid decisions.
He had the game to win Wimbledon. He should have stuck with Gilbert. That '04 final was as good as any battle Federer had with Nadal.
Andy knows it and that's why he threw out most of his trophies. He is haunted by the past.
Click to expand...

i agree
I would take that Wimbledon runner up trophy
From him

He is haunted by his mediocre career
 
B

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
wangs78 said:
He was battling nagging shoulder issues. And as we all know, without his serve Roddick is not a top 10 player. No ex-no. 1 will want to keep playing if he cannot be a top 10 guy and regularly make it into the second of week of Slams (unless you're Jimmy Connors). And that's what Roddick was faced with. At that time, no one had taken 6 months off to get fit like Roger did in '16, so I doubt Roddick thought a break to get his shoulder healed was an option.
Click to expand...

Plus, at the time, he probably didn't know that there would be this phase of pro tennis where relatively older players would have MUCH more success on average than they previously had. Retiring at 30 simply did not seem like an odd or bad proposition.
 
Eggshen

Eggshen

New User
Roddick had a great career no question. I think he would have had much more success had the strings and courts not changed basically as he was settling in as a pro. The same goes for Lletyton Hewitt as well, in my opinion. If the courts hadn't slowed and poly didn't come along and change the game completely, I think we'd have seen quite a difference in who's a great. But Roddick I think would have certainly had more success in bigger tourneys.
 
Gary Duane

Gary Duane

G.O.A.T.
Eggshen said:
Roddick had a great career no question. I think he would have had much more success had the strings and courts not changed basically as he was settling in as a pro. The same goes for Lletyton Hewitt as well, in my opinion. If the courts hadn't slowed and poly didn't come along and change the game completely, I think we'd have seen quite a difference in who's a great. But Roddick I think would have certainly had more success in bigger tourneys.
Click to expand...
@Meles and @Sabratha are probably going to agree with you. :D
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
Gary Duane said:
@Meles and @Sabratha are probably going to agree with you. :D
Click to expand...
Agree. Now the tour awards size and athleticism, not clods with a big serve.
trophy-photo.jpg


Poly closed the ground game gap for the general tour with Hewitt.
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
NatF said:
Young Roddick was as good an athlete as pretty much any of the guys you tout man ;)
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This thread should have been titled "Roddick should have been booted not retired".:rolleyes: The Pushdick exit from the game was a great, great thing.:D
 
NatF

NatF

Bionic Poster
Meles said:
This thread should have been titled "Roddick should have been booted not retired".:rolleyes: The Pushdick exit from the game was a great, great thing.:D
Click to expand...

If only he was coming up now, would be great for tennis to have a good American again - one with charisma, without Federer in his way for the next 5 years he might win some more majors too ;)
 
Booger

Booger

Hall of Fame
Too early, but tennis is a grind. He had spent a decade getting so close, but ultimately never able to break through at the top of the game.

His choices were more of the same, or go spend some time on a tropical island with his supermodel wife and garbage bags full of money.
 
Eggshen

Eggshen

New User
It would be nice to have an American that doesn't play exactly like all the other Americans. Big serve, big forehand off the serve. No movement, no match intelligence, and no game to consistently turn neutral points or points on the defensive into positive situations. They seem to get plaudits for how hard they hit the ball, but that's only when they have such a big advantage in the point and they just put the ball away. If they aren't in control of points they seem to just spin it up and over and hope something happens.
 
wangs78

wangs78

Legend
Eggshen said:
It would be nice to have an American that doesn't play exactly like all the other Americans. Big serve, big forehand off the serve. No movement, no match intelligence, and no game to consistently turn neutral points or points on the defensive into positive situations. They seem to get plaudits for how hard they hit the ball, but that's only when they have such a big advantage in the point and they just put the ball away. If they aren't in control of points they seem to just spin it up and over and hope something happens.
Click to expand...
I think the combination of predominantly hard courts in the US plus modern racquets and poly strings give the players you describe a big advantage. Hardcourts heavily reward big servers/hitters while not penalizing bad movers enough. This all results in American players being tall, slow (relatively speaking), and focused on the big serve and the big forehand. All this plus the fact that all the other sports that American kids play also reward height (be it a basketball player, a baseball pitcher, a football quarterback) more so than agility and good footwork. In contrast in other parts of the world where soccer is the sport of choice, footwork and agility are prioritized.
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
wangs78 said:
I think the combination of predominantly hard courts in the US plus modern racquets and poly strings give the players you describe a big advantage. Hardcourts heavily reward big servers/hitters while not penalizing bad movers enough. This all results in American players being tall, slow (relatively speaking), and focused on the big serve and the big forehand. All this plus the fact that all the other sports that American kids play also reward height (be it a basketball player, a baseball pitcher, a football quarterback) more so than agility and good footwork. In contrast in other parts of the world where soccer is the sport of choice, footwork and agility are prioritized.
Click to expand...
Just saw Tiafoe's forehand exposed by Kokkinakis in Los Cabos. A great talent Tiafoe, but the heavy western forehand is like a bad rash on American tennis. Only the US keeps producing this garbage and that is a huge problem.
 
wangs78

wangs78

Legend
Meles said:
Just saw Tiafoe's forehand exposed by Kokkinakis in Los Cabos. A great talent Tiafoe, but the heavy western forehand is like a bad rash on American tennis. Only the US keeps producing this garbage and that is a huge problem.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't even know how the trend got started. None of the US greats from the 90s used such an extreme grip - did Courier, maybe? Sampras, Agassi and Chang certainly didn't. Again, I think American youths are too focused on single strike tennis. And that is a very American mentality. "My [fill in the blank] is bigger than yours. I win."
 
D

Deleted member 716271

Guest
Roddick had the 2nd most talent of all time, behind Ken Rosewall. Shame the lazy American didn't hone his shots more, preferring beer and wings and relaxing to hard work.
 
deacsyoga

deacsyoga

Banned
More like he should have retweeked, not fired Gilbert. That was the biggest mistake of his career. At the time he retired he absolutely should have retired. He was clearly past his physical prime at that point, and nothing could have stopped that, and he is not a talented enough player like Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic to factor seriously once well past his physical prime.
 
deacsyoga

deacsyoga

Banned
NatF said:
If only he was coming up now, would be great for tennis to have a good American again - one with charisma, without Federer in his way for the next 5 years he might win some more majors too ;)
Click to expand...

Yes and no. Americans are generally bored with tennis these days anyway, the ratings are the lowest in history in the U.S, especialy on the mens side. It would probably be better for him to come up at the time Americans atleast somewhat care about the sport which is falling further down the list of priorities for American sports fans.

Probably would be best if he came up 5 years earlier, hit his peak after Sampras, before Federer, and at the same time as old Agassi, Safin, Hewitt, and Kuerten would be his only competition, and when Americans were still somewhat interested in tennis. Especialy mens tennis.
 
Shaolin

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
MasturB said:
Has as good of a serve as Ivo. Better server than Feliciano and Muller. Both aren't really serve and volleyers just guys who can s&v.

Rodd had a better game than either of those 3 from the baseline.

In this era he probably would thrive if he just cut points shorter.

I'm not sure why in his later playing years he chose a Coach like Stefanki who wanted him to grind rather than someone who'd get him to stop spinning that forehand and go for it like Lendl did to Murray.

He could have gotten someone to have him come in more off his serve.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Stefanki cut his nuts off and he was never he same.

Had Roddick gone back to his early ultra aggressive style he maybe could have bagged another major.

Funny how Andy retired years ago and playing the Powershares forever now and Fed is still out winning multiple majors.
 
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