Andy
Roddick sarcastically mocked a fan when he pointed out that he wasn't good
enough compared to
Roger Federer,
Rafael Nadal, and
Novak Djokovic.
The former
American tennis player was one of the dominant figures on the ATP Tour between
2002 and 2010, ending nine consecutive seasons in the top 10, in addition to
winning the 2003
US Open and finishing No. 1 that same year. Additionally,
Roddick secured 5 Masters 1000 titles, the Davis Cup, and four runner-up
finishes in Grand Slam finals.
Roddick's sarcastic remark on being compared to the Big-3
Roddick's
peak years on the Tour coincided with the rise of Roger Federer, marking the
beginning of the Big-3 era with Federer's first Grand Slam at
Wimbledon 2003,
where the Swiss defeated Roddick in the semifinals before claiming the title
against Australian Mark Philippoussis.
The last
match of the rivalry between Roddick and Federer was at the 2012
Miami Open,
where the North American emerged victorious. The one-sided head-to-head ended
21-3 in favor of Federer.
"I'd
go into a Wimbledon final, I had a puncher's chance, but I believed that not
that I was better, but that I could win. There's a difference between the two,
I knew, at scale, I was never better than Roger Federer… but on a given day,
can I throw a right-hand uppercut and beat Roger? Yeah," said Roddick.
Roddick held the world No. 1 ranking for 13 weeks between 2003 and 2004.
Referring
to this interview, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) asserted that Roddick was
never at the level of the Big-3: "He was never better than Nadal or
Djokovic either!" said a fan.
"I
also never walked on the moon," said Roddick.
Another fan
pointed out that basically no one who has picked up a racket is at the level of
the Big-3, so it doesn't make sense to attack Roddick for that: "Wait why
is @andyroddick being attacked for not being as good as Fed, Nadal, or Novak?
That would apply to every other person who has ever picked up a racquet,"
they wrote on X.
"Because
internet," Roddick responded to the second fan.