Andy Roddick recalled his emotional win over Roger Federer at the 2008 Miami Open, joking that he owned the tennis legend.
Former world No. 1 Roddick had a successful career in the sport between 1997 and 2012. The American has 32 ATP titles to his name and became a US Open champion in 2003.
However, some of Roddick's potential success was hindered by the talents of Big Three member Federer, who defeated him at each of the four other major finals that he reached during his career, those being Wimbledon 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open in 2006.
Nevertheless, Roddick recalled a special moment in his career that came during the 2008 Miami Open, where he and his compatriot Serena Williams defeated the top-ranked players Federer and Justine Henin.
This recollection came after Americans Tommy Paul and Jessica Pegula knocked out the ATP and WTA rankings No. 1's Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek respectively at the National Bank Canadian Open and Omnium Banque Nationale in Toronto and Montreal this week.
This was the first time that two American players had achieved this feat at the same tournament since Roddick and Williams in Miami 15 years ago.
Speaking to Tennis Channel, Roddick discussed his victory in Miami and joked about out-performing Federer.
"I own that guy, that guy never had anything against me. He told me after the match, ‘Andy I think you’re just totally in my head now," he said.
The 40-year-old defeated the 20-time Grand Slam champion 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 in the quarter-final of the ATP Tour event. This was only his second victory against Federer, and he would only register one more in his career. Indeed, Roddick admitted that he got quite emotional after the win.
"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," he said.
801 - Players from the United States defeated the world No. 1 in ATP and WTA Rankings the same week for the first time since Miami 2008, 801 weeks ago (Andy Roddick vs Roger Federer and Serena Williams vs Justine Henin). What?! #OBN23 #NBO23 | @OBNmontreal @WTA @atptour
