Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is the top-ranked American player and fifth-ranked player in the world as of October 1, 2007. He finished sixth in the 2006 ATP Race. He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 U.S. Open. He has reached three other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon twice and the U.S. Open), losing to Roger Federer each time.

Roddick is known for his powerful serves and forehands. He also holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, clocked at 155 mph. He has broken his own record three times.

Andy Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 30, 1982 to Jerry and Blanche Roddick. Roddick's father was a businessman, and his mother, Blanche, was a schoolteacher. She now directs the Andy Roddick Foundation. Roddick has two older brothers, Lawrence and John, who were both promising tennis players at a young age. Roddick lived in Austin, TX until he was 11, then moved to Boca Raton, Florida, where he lived until graduating from high school in 2000. He later moved back to Austin, Texas. Roddick's brother John is his coach and since 2006, Jimmy Connors has joined Team Roddick as a consultant coach and often travels to the major tournaments to coach Andy.

In 2001, Roddick became the youngest player to end the year in the ATP Top 20. At Wimbledon that year, he showed his potential by taking a set from eventual winner Goran Ivanisevic.

Roddick's breakthrough year was in 2003, and many consider his 2003 Australian Open quarterfinal versus Younes El Aynaoui to be his breakthrough match. Roddick and the Moroccan battled for five hours, with the fifth set being one for the record books. The 21-19 set in favor of Roddick was the longest fifth set in a Grand Slam tournament during the open era, at 2 hours 23 minutes. (This was beaten in 2007, during a Wimbledon Men's Doubles Second Round match, when Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa beat Paul Hanley (AUS) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) in the fifth set 28-26, that set lasting 3 hours and 5 minutes. The entire match lasted 5 hours and 58 minutes.)Both players maintained exceptional unforced errors-to-winners ratios and high quality of play even at the closing stages of the match. Despite a lackluster French Open, Roddick enjoyed success in England by winning Queen's Club and reaching the Wimbledon semifinals where he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets. This success carried over the Atlantic to the United States.

Roddick's hardcourt record in 2003 included his first Masters Series titles – coming at Canada and Cincinnati – and his first Grand Slam title. At the U.S. Open, Roddick rallied from two sets down and a match point against him in the semifinals to beat David Nalbandian. He then defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. By the end of the year, at age 21, he was ranked No. 1, the first American to finish a year at No. 1 since Andre Agassi in 1999. He also became the youngest American to hold this rank since computer rankings were started in 1973.

Roddick was unexpectedly knocked out of the 2004 U.S. Open in a five set quarterfinal against another big server, Joachim Johansson. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Roddick lost to Chilean Fernando González, the eventual bronze medal winner, in the third round. Roddick was part of a U.S. tennis delegation that included Taylor Dent, Mardy Fish, Vince Spadea, Bob and Mike Bryan, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams, Chanda Rubin, and Lisa Raymond. Later that year, Roddick teamed up again with Fish and the Bryans on the U.S. Davis Cup team that lost to Spain in the finals in Seville. Roddick lost his singles match against Rafael Nadal, who would in the following year win the French Open. By the end of 2004, Roddick fired his coach of 18 months, Brad Gilbert, and hired assistant Davis Cup coach Dean Goldfine. Roddick finished 2004 ranked as the world's No. 2, the U.S.'s No. 1, and the player with the most aces (1017).

Roddick displayed his strong character when he saved fellow tennis player Sjeng Schalken and other guests from a Hotel fire back in 2004. He demonstrated even more bravery, also saving close friends Ben Campezi and Dean Monroe from the fire.

Roddick's first 2005 tournament victory was the SAP Open in San Jose, California, where he was the first to win the event in consecutive years since Mark Philippoussis in 1999 and 2000. The top-seeded Roddick defeated Cyril Saulnier 6-0, 6-4 in 50 minutes, the event's first championship shutout set since Arthur Ashe beat Guillermo Vilas in 1975. In April, Roddick won the U.S. Men's Claycourt Championships, reclaiming the title he won in 2001 and 2002. (He lost in 2003 to Agassi and in 2004 to Tommy Haas.) In May 2005, Roddick had match point against Spanish big-hitter Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco was serving, attempting to save the match point on his second serve, when the linesman erroneously called the serve out. If this call had held, Roddick would have won the match. Roddick motioned to the umpire, pointing to the clear ball mark on the clay indicating the ball was in and the call was consequently changed. Verdasco went on to win the match. Many in the American media echoed sentiments such as Roddick had chosen "sportsmanship over a win." However, by Roddick's own admission, the umpire would certainly have come down from his chair since Verdasco was about to challenge the call anyway, and would have been able to see the clear ball mark indicating that the serve was in. Roddick said that he was just saving the umpire a trip.

At the 2005 French Open, Roddick lost to the unseeded Argentine player Jose Acasuso in the second round, and at Wimbledon 2005, Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the final for the second consecutive year. At the 2005 U.S. Open, Roddick was defeated by World No. 70 Gilles Müller in the first round. Roddick's last U.S. Open first round loss had been in 2000. At the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon in 2005, Roddick defeated Gaël Monfils to wrap up a tournament without losing a set or getting his serve broken. Even though he reached the Wimbledon final and Australian Open semifinals, TENNIS Magazine and others criticized Roddick's poor game in 2005.

At the Australian Open, Roddick lost to Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Roddick played rather tentatively throughout most of the match, excluding the second set, contrary to his promise to be more aggressive.

In February, Roddick and Goldfine reached a mutual agreement to part ways. Roddick then hired his brother, John Roddick, to coach him.

Later in the month, Roddick lost to Andrei Pavel in five sets at a Davis Cup tie in California but won his next match, enabling the U.S. team to advance to the quarterfinals.

In March, Roddick lost to 22-year-old Russian Igor Andreev in the fourth round of the first Masters Series event of the year, the Pacific Life Open.

In April, Roddick lost to the Spanish baseliner David Ferrer in a quarterfinal of the NASDAQ-100 Open, a Masters Series event.

At Queen's Club in London, Roddick failed in his "4-peat" attempt, as he fell to compatriot and friend James Blake 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals. Nevertheless, Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt (who went on the claim to Queen's Club title) entered Wimbledon in 2006 as the two players with the best hopes of dethroning reigning three-time champion Roger Federer. However, in the third round Roddick was defeated 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Andy Murray of the United Kingdom. (Hewitt reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Marcos Baghdatis in four sets.)

Roddick reached his first ATP final of the year at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, losing to Blake 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.

Roddick sustained a side injury during a tournament in Los Angeles, which sidelined him from the tour for 1 day. He rebounded from this at the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Murray 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals and then outplaying Fernando González 6-3, 6-3 to reach his first Masters Series final of the year. In the final, Roddick hit 17 aces past Juan Carlos Ferrero to win his 21st career title, his second title in Cincinnati, his fourth ATP Masters Series title, and first title of 2006 (6-3, 6-4).

Roddick headed into the U.S. Open with a new coach Jimmy Connors, who will coach him, alongside Andy's brother, John Roddick. Roddick breezed past his first round opponent Florent Serra 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. Roddick's second round match against Kristian Pless was not much harder as Roddick won 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-3. Roddick's first major challenge came in the third round, when he struggled to a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2 victory over Fernando Verdasco. Roddick then made it to the quarterfinals after defeating Andre Agassi's conqueror Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Roddick reached the semifinals for the first time in a 2006 Grand Slam tournament by defeating Hewitt 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Roddick then made it to the final after defeating Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-7(5), 6-0, 7-6(3), 6-3. In the final, Roddick lost 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to Federer, the two-time defending champion and World No. 1.

In the first rubber of the Davis Cup semifinal against Russia, Roddick lost to Marat Safin 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5). Then, after the Bryan brothers won the doubles rubber to keep the U.S. alive in the tie, Roddick lost to Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 in 4 hours 48 minutes.

Roddick qualified for his fourth year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. He was placed in the Red Group, along with Federer, David Nalbandian, and Ivan Ljubičić. Roddick won his match with Ljubicic 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-1 but then lost his matches with Federer, 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, after having three match points in the tiebreak, and Nalbandian, 6-2, 7-6(4). Roddick did not reach the semifinals.

Roddick began 2007 by winning the AAMI Kooyong Classic, beating World No. 1 Roger Federer 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the final. However, Roddick's head-to-head record against the World No. 1 remained at 1-12 as the tournament did not count in the official records because it was an exhibition.

Roddick entered the 2007 Australian Open as the sixth seed. In his first round match, he lost a marathon first set tiebreak 20-18 but eventually won the match in four sets against wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France. Roddick defeated 26th seeded Marat Safin in the third round and 9th seeded Mario Ančić in a five set fourth round match. Roddick won his quarterfinal match against fellow American Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 but was defeated by Roger Federer 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in the semifinals, making his head-to-head record against Federer 1-13.

Roddick reached at least the semifinals of his next two tournaments. He bowed to Andy Murray in the semifinals of the SAP Open in San Jose, California, a reprise of 2006. Roddick then defeated Murray in the semifinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee before losing in the final to defending champion Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-2. Reaching the final, however, enabled Roddick to overtake Nikolay Davydenko for the World No. 3 position, his first time inside the top three players since March 6, 2006.

At the first ATP Masters Series tournament of the year, Roddick reached the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, where he lost to Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3. Roddick is now 1-2 against Nadal.

Roddick then played the Sony Ericcson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he retired from his quarterfinal match with Andy Murray due to a left hamstring injury.

Although not fully recovered from his hamstring injury, Roddick helped the U.S. advance to the Davis Cup semifinals; however, he re-aggravated the injury and was subsequently forced to pull out of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas. Roddick also announced that he would withdraw from the Monte Carlo Masters, citing his injury.

His next tournament was at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome. After a first round bye, he won his first match against Gaston Gaudio where he saved all three break points and fired nine aces. However, he was unable to stop Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round, losing 6-0, 6-4.

Roddick then withdrew from the Masters Series Hamburg tournament because, according to his website, he needed time to prepare physically for the French Open. Roddick was seeded third at that tournament, which began May 27, 2007. He was quickly eliminated in the first round by Russian Igor Andreev in four sets.

Roddick's next Davis Cup action will be in the semifinals, where the U.S. meets Sweden. In the quarterfinals, Roddick won his singles match against Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-4. In earlier first round Davis Cup action, Roddick helped the U.S. defeat the Czech Republic, winning both of his singles matches against Ivo Minar and Tomas Berdych. The U.S. is looking for its first Davis Cup championship since 1995.

Roddick was victorious at the Stella Artois Championships for the fourth time when he beat Nicolas Mahut in 3 sets, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 on 17th June 2007.

Roddick had a somewhat disappointing Wimbledon campaign. He was considered to be one of the pre-tournament favourites behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. As a consequence, Roddick was seeded third. He reached the Quarter-finals after wins against Justin Gimelstob of the U.S., Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and Paul-Henri Mathieu. He then lost in five sets to Richard Gasquet of France in what was one of the unexpected upsets of the tournament: (4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-6 to Gasquet).

Roddick made it to the semifinals of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, but was upset by Frank Dancevic in 2 straight sets: 4-6, 6-7.

However, Roddick claimed his second ATP tour title of the year by winning the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Washington D.C for the third time when he beat American new-comer John Isner in 2 straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 on 5th August 2007.

Roddick defeated Justin Gimelstob 7-6 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the 2007 US Open.http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2007-08-22/267.php He marched on to the quarterfinals for a highly anticipated match against Federer. He was defeated 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 with no breaks of serve and only one break point total in the first two sets, that being on Federer's serve. Despite the straight sets loss, Roddick was praised for the high quality tennis he played in the match.

September 21-23, 2007, Roddick anchored the U.S. Davis Cup team once again into the finals to be held from November 30 - December 2, 2007 (against Russia) after defeating Sweden 4-1, winning both his singles matches, opening the tie with a convincing win against Joachim Johansson, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 and clinching it with a straightforward 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over ageless Jonas Bjorkman. This is the ninth time in nine tries that Roddick has clinched a tie for the American team.

Roddick's next tournament was to be the Madrid Masters but he pulled out, citing a knee injury. He is now expected to complete the season in Paris Masters and then most likely play in the season ending Tennis Masters Cup.

Roddick has been under the media spotlight to perform well in the tradition of his immediate predecessors in American tennis: Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi. After his fourth round exit from the 2006 Australian Open and first round exits from the 2005 U.S. Open and 2006 French Open, Roddick was criticized by some tennis commentators and analysts who questioned his commitment to the game and his ability to play at the highest level of the professional tour. Their major argument was that Roddick lacked diversity and aggression on his backhand side and relied too much on his forehand. Roddick will continue to be under immense media and public scrutiny until he can shed the "one slam wonder" label and back-up his 2003 U.S. Open title with another major championship, although it appears as if the media has begun to respect Roddick as a player since he switched coaches to Jimmy Connors. It should also be noted that because of the continued dominance of Roger Federer, much of the media criticism of Roddicks game has been a little harsh, when in terms of season by season performance, he has been one of the most consistent players on tour in recent years, as he has only dropped out of the top 10 once since 2003 and has reached a grand slam final every season apart from 2007 since winning the U.S Open in 2003.http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/headtohead/?player1=Roddick%2C+Andy&player2=Federer

Roddick is often called "the other A-Rod", a reference to baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez already having that nickname. On court, he has been known to argue with chair umpires and linespeople, although he often applauds an opponent's winning shot. Roddick is also known for his sense of humor, and is often overheard on television trading jokes with the crowd during matches. Roddick also enjoys occasionally mimicking other tennis stars for crowds during exhibition matches (such as World TeamTennis) , including John McEnroe, Maria Sharapova and Andre Agassi.

In April 2005, Reebok announced that it would end its contract with Roddick, who had been endorsed by the company since he was 17. Roddick has now joined forces with Lacoste. Roddick will release a cologne with Parlux Fragrances .

Roddick uses the Pure Drive Roddick Plus Racquet, a signature racquet designed for him by racquet sponsor Babolat, which is slightly heavier and stiffer than the standard Pure Drive Series. Roddick also uses Babolat Propulse tennis shoes which are Roddick's signature gear.

*Rolex *Lexus - Andy Roddick has signed a deal with Lexus on 17 June 2005 with the top-selling luxury automotive brand in the U.S. In addition to the shirt sleeve logo, Roddick drives a Lexus for personal use and appeared in Lexus ad campaigns. The sponsorship also includes opportunities for Lexus to support the Andy Roddick Foundation. *SAP AG - Leading business software provider SAP AG announced its three-year sponsorship agreement with Andy Roddick on 19 November 2006. *American Express *Lacoste

In 2004, Roddick produced the fastest serve in professional tennis: 249-250 km/h (155 mph) during a Davis Cup semi-final match with Belarus's Vladimir Voltchkov on hard court in Charleston. Earlier that year, Roddick had the fastest serve in U.S. Open history: 244 km/h (152 mph) against American Scoville Jenkins. Roddick also won the 2004 ESPY Award for Best Male Tennis Player.

In 2005, Roddick won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award of the Year because of his charity efforts, which included: raising money for the survivors of the tsunami following 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake through Serving for Tsunami Relief and other efforts; auctioning off several rackets and autographs to raise money for UNICEF; and creating the Andy Roddick Foundation to help at-risk youth. The foundation is partly funded through the sale of blue wristbands inscribed "No Compromise," inspired by Lance Armstrong's yellow Livestrong wristbands. In 2007 Roddick and the Andy Roddick Foundation was awarded by the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Roddick was the first male tennis player ever to receive this award.

Roddick's style is that of an offensive baseliner. His most dangerous weapon is his powerful and accurate first serve, which he uses to earn free points with aces/unreturnable serves or put himself into position to hit a forehand winner. His first serve is known to some as the "Roddick Serve", since he abbreviates the serve by removing part of the motion. He usually targets the two corners, and gets many aces via this strategy. When he first burst onto the scene in the tour, Roddick's forehand was often called one of the best forehands in the game. For his second serve, Roddick usually employs a heavy kick serve, then tries to use a variety of spins, slices, and angles in the rally to throw off his opponent and position himself for a winning shot. Despite all this, Roddick is sometimes criticized for his lack of variety. Roddick will also occasionally use the serve and volley tactic on both first and second services to surprise his opponent, although he generally prefers to remain near the baseline after a serve.

One of Roddick's most effective combinations is the serve out wide on the deuce court followed by an inside out forehand winner. Although this tactic is expected by most opponents, they often struggle so much with returning serve that they are unable to recover fast enough to chase down his following shot. Roddick prefers to play shorter points, as he is not known to be one of the fastest individuals on the men's tour, though under Jimmy Connors' coaching he is becoming increasingly better concerning court coverage and reaches many shots that previously he would have had trouble with.

Though Roddick's return game has been labeled his greatest weakness, this aspect of his game has improved somewhat in recent months. Under the tutelage of coach Jimmy Connors, Roddick has attempted to transform his two-handed backhand and volley, arguably his worst two shots, into more reliable shots. Regardless, opponents know that Roddick's backhand and volleys can go off when put under pressure during a tight match.

On April 5, 2002, Roddick guest-starred on the television show Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as himself, and in the episode, Sabrina summoned him so he could give her tennis lessons.

Roddick hosted Saturday Night Live on November 8, 2003, becoming the second tennis player, (the first being Chris Evert) and the first male tennis player to host (while Chris Evert is the first and only female tennis player to host SNL).

Roddick is in a This is Sports Center ad with Stuart Scott where he confronts the Sports Center anchor about him not calling him "A-Rod" and asks him "Did Alex Rodriguez put you up to this?" Scott replies "Who?" Roddick says "A-Rod!" Scott gets a sneaky look on his face and Roddick leaves disgusted.

The June/July 2007 issue of Men's Fitness magazine carried an article on Roddick. The cover shot featured the tennis ace in a t-shirt straining to contain massive, pumped-up biceps and hulking shoulder and chest muscles. The image set off widespread online speculation that the magazine had altered Roddick's likeness, a suspicion echoed by Roddick himself.

''To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. This table is current through the 2007 U.S. Open, which ended on 9 September, 2007.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

: * As of August 27, 2007.

* "Call me All-American, but I love Ham and Cheese sandwiches. And not just any old ham and cheese sandwich... My mother's is the best. I've tried many times to make these sandwiches on my own, but it's never the same.” * "I feel like I have put more work in mentally and physically, in every which way and I've never cared so much as I do now.” * "My aggression out there is my weapon, ... ... I think it's more letting them know that I'm not going to let them get away with something, and I'm not just going to kind of poke it back and be content to stay in rallies.” * "My serve has killed a small dog ... I'm joking, I'm joking! The dog was huge!"

* Official website * * Roddick Recent Match Results * Roddick World Ranking History * * Andy Roddick Foundation * Andy's U.S. Olympic Team bio ... with links to photo gallery * Andy Roddick Fan: a fansite * In losing a match, Roddick became a true sportsman, a May 2005 article written by Frank Deford * Roddick reverses form on the lawns * Time for Roddick to Stop Slide * * Tennis Academy - Roddick Total Tennis Academy