"Get out of here": Andy Roddick’s blistering response to Chris Evert detractors

Andy Roddick is famous for being blunt and remains in the news after launching his podcast, "Served with Andy Roddick." It is a place where the 42-year-old has spoken in detail about several issues affecting the tennis world, both on and off the court.

Recently, Roddick was involved in a heated debate, questioning the greatness of former players compared to the current era. That debate began with some tennis enthusiasts on various platforms questioning Chris Evert’s greatness, stating that the former world number one would have struggled to find success playing against the current crop of players, who are faster and stronger than those of the 1970s and 80s. Roddick was having none of that criticism and stated that people do not have the right to question a player who has won 157 titles in their illustrious career.

“Chrissy missed one ball a decade when the head of your racket was as big as the hat on my head,” said Roddick. “You can miss me with the f***ing looking backwards. The ball control, she could literally land it on a dime and not miss for days. Get out of here.”

Evert is widely regarded as one of the greatest player in the history of women’s tennis, having won as many as 18 Grand Slam titles in her career. She remained the world number one in women’s tennis for 260 weeks, which is the fourth-highest in the list of players who finished number one for the most weeks in WTA rankings. She is only behind Steffi Graf (377 weeks), Martina Navratilova (332 weeks) and Serena Williams (319 weeks).

Evert’s first-ever major title triumph was the French Open in 1974, where she defeated China’s Olga Morozova in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-2. Her last major triumph also came at the Roland Garros 12 years later when she defeated Navratilova in the final with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. After that triumph, Evert played in the eight semifinals of Grand Slams but only managed to book a place in the final once, which was in 1988 at the Australian Open, where she lost to former world number one Graf in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-6.

Despite winning 18 major titles in her career, Evert did not manage to win more than two Grand Slams in a single year. Interestingly, Evert achieved all that despite playing just six times at the Australian Open in her 18-year-long career. She ended up winning the competition twice, in 1982 when she defeated Navratilova in the final, and then two years later, when she got the better of the Czech Republic’s Helena Sukova.

Evert’s most successful competition was the French Open, where she lifted the title seven times. Out of the 78 matches she played in that competition, she won 72 and lost just six. She finished with a win percentage of over 90 percent. The US Open was highly successful for Evert as well, as he lifted the title on six occasions. It was the only major competition in her career where she was never knocked out before the quarterfinals stage. Four of those six titles were released consecutively from 1975 to 1978. In contrast, she played in 16 consecutive semifinals at the US Open before eventually being knocked out before the last-four stage in 1987 after losing to fellow American Lori McNeil.

Overall, Evert played 336 matches in Grand Slams, where she won 299 of them and suffered just 37 defeats. Other than the Grand Slams, Evert won four Tour Finals (1972, 1973, 1975 and 1977). She won three Grand Slams in the doubles category as well, to go with eight Fed Cup titles. However, one thing that Evert failed to achieve was winning a gold medal for her country in the Olympics. Her best outing was losing in the third round to Italy’s Raffaella Reggi during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.