“I got into people’s business many times on the court”: Andy Roddick addresses on-court issues at Paris Olympics
Throughout Andy Roddick’s professional career, he was at some point or the other involved in certain disputes. Whether it was verbal confrontations with umpires over disputed calls, the intense rivalry with Roger Federer, many heated exchanges with David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych or the infamous criticism on Novak Djokovic in the 2008 US Open, it is safe to say that Roddick acted on his emotions more than any other player.
Frustration and acting on fiery temperament are often part of the game. During the recent Paris 2024 Olympics, WTA players Qinwen Zheng, Emma Navarro, Iga Swiatek, and Danielle Collins got into heated exchanges with each other which caused controversy around the world of tennis. Strong remarks were made from each, and words like ‘insincere’, ‘no respect’, ‘cut-throat approach’, among others were used by these athletes in press conferences later on to show their dissent.
Andy Roddick, who has been a part of the tennis industry for over two decades, was the perfect person to address this issue, as he has first-hand experience over this matter and was able to relate to it easily. He mentioned that these on-court dramas happen from time to time as players act on emotions during the heat of play. Once they get off-court, hardly no-one bothers about what happened and some even embrace each other at times. The American also stated that it is basically a part of the game.
“I’ll tell you this, I got into people’s business many times on the court and I would say that 95 percent of those didn’t have a history past that day or night. We’re gonna yell at each other, gonna be annoyed at things. Danielle got into it with Iga. I’d be shocked if three weeks from now they’re not fine,” said the 41-year-old (via podcast ‘Served with Andy Roddick).
“I still get smoked by his fans for something that happened 16 years ago” : Andy Roddick opens up about his controversy
During the 2008 US Open, the Serbian was dealing with a list of medical issues, from a sore throat to a hip injury. This led to Novak Djokovic taking medical timeouts during matches which caused frustration among players including the American.
Andy Roddick jokingly passed on comments about Djokovic in pre-match press conferences which caused tension among them. Novak Djokovic was never the most liked player, and he beat the American in the Quarter Final, he got showered with boos. This led to even more controversy post-match as the Serb thought that Roddick fed the media and fans lies that he had faked his injuries.
This dispute naturally made media headlines and rumours of them getting physical in the locker room were at a high, but in reality, the tension between the players quickly dissipated after the match. The former player has expressed his regret over this matter many times but revealed that the Serbian’s fans still ‘smoke’ him over it.
“We mentioned Novak. I still get smoked by his fans for something that happened 16 years ago that we talked about that night and let go,” said Andy Roddick.
Andy Roddick gave this incident as an example of how easily tensions can rise in high-pressure tournaments like the Grand Slams and the Olympics.
