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Andy Roddick is one of the few players to have defeated all of the Big Three — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic — at different points in his career.
The American has had a total of 11 wins over the three legends, a list in which he is joined by other prominent names such as Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro, Dominic Thiem, and the extension of the Big Three, Andy Murray, who joins the trio to form the Big Four.
Roddick held the World No. 1 ranking in 2003 before Federer won the Australian Open title in 2004 and ended his reign. It was the same year that marked the inception of the dominance of the Federer-Nadal era which was joined by Djokovic soon.
With 32 career singles titles, including a Grand Slam (2003 US Open) and three Wimbledon finals, Roddick is part of the list of some of the most talented players in the Open Era. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017, five years after his retirement.
While his set of achievements speaks for himself, Roddick holds a 5-4 record against Djokovic, 3-7 against Nadal, and 3-21 against Federer, including some iconic clashes. Here are some of Roddick's biggest wins over Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal.
Andy Roddick's biggest wins over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer
#3 2009 Australian Open Quarterfinal against Djokovic
While Djokovic holds a massive record of 98 career titles as opposed to Roddick's 32, the American finished his career with a 5-4 head-to-head lead over the Serb. However, out of the five victories that Roddick has over Djokovic, one that tends to stand out is the 2009 Australian Open quarterfinal.
Andy Roddick defeated the defending champion and the now record-holder of the maximum number of Australian Open titles, Novak Djokovic, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 2-1, as the latter was forced to retire due to the intense heat in Melbourne.
Speaking about the three-set lead that translated to victory, Roddick had said (via the Guardian):
"Obviously, you know he's hurting. When you know he's hurting, all you want to do is just deliver that knockout blow."
"You don't want to keep playing the game of wondering if he's going to do it or not, or if he's close. Only he really knows. At that point, you don't want to see anybody go out, but I was happy that I was able to get the last break in there, the last blow," Andy Roddick added.
While three of the other four victories that Roddick had over Djokovic were also quarterfinals at ATP 1000 events, this Grand Slam victory at a place which Djokovic came to dominate thereafter is one of Roddick's most memorable matches against the Serb.
# 2 2010 Miami Open Semifinal against Nadal
Andy Roddick had three victories over Rafael Nadal out of the 10 times they met on the court, including the semifinal at the 2010 Miami Open, a tournament where Nadal has been a runner-up five times but failed to clinch a title.
While the 2010 final in Miami could have been Nadal's third attempt at the title, Roddick defeated the Spaniard 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final, where he beat Tomáš Berdych.
Although Nadal took the lead by winning the first set, he failed to maintain the momentum and convert any break point in the final set. Roddick broke Nadal's serve in the second and third sets to advance to the final.
Speaking about the match and how he edged past Nadal, Andy Roddick had said (via CNN):
"I took a lot of risk there in the last two sets. My comfort zone of moving the ball around and maybe chipping it around a little bit doesn't work against Rafa. I had to try to come up with something that at least took him out of his comfort zone a little bit, and it paid off."
#1 2008 Miami Open Quarterfinal against Federer
Though underrated, the Roddick-Federer rivalry wherein the duo met 24 times on the court has produced some of the most memorable and iconic clashes in tennis. This includes the historical 2009 Wimbledon final which turned out to be the longest one at the Championships at the time in terms of the number of games played.
While Roddick won only three matches out of the 24 against the Swiss, the 2008 Miami Open quarterfinal is one worth taking note of. The American defeated Federer 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3.
Andy Roddick defeated Federer at the 2003 Canada Masters and lost to him 11 times before the quarterfinal victory in Florida almost five years later.
This was a time when both Federer and Roddick did not have the best start to the season and the dominance that the former had over the latter only added to the American's concerns. However, as exemplified by the scoreline, winning the first set with an intense tiebreak and the third one thereafter, Roddick got the better of Federer only for the second time in his career.
Getting emotional after the said victory, Roddick said (Seattle Post-Intelligencer):
"Okay, so I sobbed a little. I think I was pretty relieved and happy and, you know, I saw my box -- My brother and my agent, they've seen me lose to him a lot of times and they shared a lot of nights with me afterward where they were trying to convince me I'm going to beat him one time. I was happy for them, too."
The third and the last time Andy Roddick beat Federer was again in Miami four years later (2012), which was also the year when the American decided to bid adieu to tennis.
