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 the only American inside the ATP Top 10. As of November 12, 2010, he is ranked World No. 8 by the ATP rankings. He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 US Open, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the finals. Roddick has reached four other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon three times and the US Open once), losing to Roger Federer each time. He and Federer are the only players to have been ranked in the Association of Tennis Professionals top 10 at year-end from 2002 through 2010 consecutively.
Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska[4] to Jerry and Blanche Roddick. Roddick's father was a businessman and his mother was a school teacher. She now directs the Andy Roddick Foundation. Roddick has two older brothers, Lawrence and John (All-American tennis player at University of Georgia (1996–98) and head tennis coach at the University of Oklahoma), who were both promising tennis players at a young age.
at one point, Roddick dated actress/singer Mandy Moore. It was while Roddick was flipping through a previous swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated that Roddick first noticed Brooklyn Decker, to whom he is now married. The two had been dating since at least the 2007 Davis Cup, and on March 31, 2008, Roddick announced on his website that he and Decker had become engaged. The couple were married in Austin on April 17, 2009.
Roddick seriously considered quitting competitive tennis at the age of 17, when he had a losing streak in the juniors. His coach, Tarik Benhabiles, talked him into giving tennis four more months of undivided attention.[8] Roddick finished as the #6 junior in the U.S. in 1999, and as the #1 junior in the world in 2000. He won six world junior singles and seven doubles titles, and won the US Open and Australian Open junior singles titles in 2000.[9] In March, in Miami, in the first round Roddick had his first major victory as he beat world # 41 Fernando Vicente of Spain, 6–4, 6–0. In August, in Washington, D.C., he beat world # 30 Fabrice Santoro of France, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3.
Roddick's hardcourt record in 2003 included his first Masters Series titles – coming at Canada and Cincinnati – and his only 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 6–7 (4), 3–6, 7–6 (7), 6–1, 6–3. He then defeated world # 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, 6–3, 7–6, 6–3. At the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston he defeated world # 7 Carlos Moyá of Spain, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, and world # 4 Guillermo Coria of Argentina, 6–3, 6–7 (4), 6–3, before losing to Federer in the semifinals. By the end of the year, at age 21, he was ranked # 1, the first American to finish a year at # 1 since Andre Agassi in 1999. He also became the youngest American to hold this rank since computer rankings were started in 1973.
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