Andy Roddick

Nickname

A-Rod. (tennis.com, 30 Jun 2012)

Hobbies

Listening to music, watching movies, spending time with his friends and taking his boat out on to the lake. (andyroddick.com, 31 Aug 2010)

Occupation

Athlete

Family

Wife, Brooklyn

Coach

Larry Stefanki (USA) from 2008 (nbcolympics.com, 27 Apr 2012)

Position and style

Double-handed backhand (aroddick.net, 15 Oct 2011)

Handedness

Right (wimbledon.com, 06 Jul 2012)

Sporting relatives

Played varsity basketball at high school in Boca Raton. (andyroddick.com, 31 Aug 2010)

Other sports

His older brother, John, was an All-American tennis player at the University of Georgia and runs a tennis academy in San Antonio. His oldest brother, Lawrence, represented the United States in diving. (andyroddick.com, 31 Aug 2010) His wife, Brooklyn Decker, is a swimsuit model and aspiring actress. (dailymail.co.uk, 09 Jun 2012)

Debut

2001 for United States (10sballs.com, 09 Feb 2012)

Injuries

A torn hamstring healed in time for him to participate in the 2012 grass season. (dailymail.co.uk, 09 Jun 2012)

In April 2000 he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. (atpworldtour.com, 03 Feb 2004)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
He began playing around the age of four. (aroddick.net, 15 Oct 2011)

Reason for taking up this sport
His older brothers both played and he wanted to be like them. He used to play imaginary matches against Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker against the garage wall. (aroddick.net, 15 Oct 2011)

Hero
Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi. (aroddick.net, 15 Oct 2011)

Awards
He recorded the 600th win of his singles career at Eastbourne in 2012. (yahoo.com, 22 Jun 2012)

He was named the 2003 ATP Player of the Year and received the 2005 ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for his charity work. In 2003, he also became the then youngest American to finish the year ranked No. 1 in the history of ATP ranking. (andyroddick.com, 31 Aug 2010)

General
RETIREMENT SPECULATION
Of the players he started his career alongside, only Roger Federer is still playing and doing well. He has suffered an increasing amount of injuries as he's aged, and has to look at ways of adapting his game. "Everyone else's body has been banged up. I can't do what Rafa [Nadal] does with his racket, I can't do what Roger does with his racket. I guess I have to believe my coach, Larry Stefanki, when he says I can't run through walls any more. We're trying to find the fine line and work against nature a little bit." After his exit against David Ferrer at Wimbledon in 2012, speculation arose over whether he would retire before the 2013 edition of Wimbledon. But he said he had not yet decided on his future. "If I don't have a definitive answer in my mind, then it's going to be tough for me articulate a definitive answer to you," he told reporters. (dailymail.co.uk, 09 Jun 2012; smh.com.au, 01 Jul 2012)

RADIO SHOW
He records a weekly radio show in the US with Bobby Bones that is sold to 650 stations. "He [Bones] is a genius at what he does. The first segment I have no idea what's he coming out with. It's been raunchy stuff, it's been sports, but our bosses don't want us reading stats. It's fun." (dailymail.co.uk, 09 Jun 2012)

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
In 2001 he founded the Andy Roddick Foundation, a community supported non-profit organisation that assists abused, underprivileged and cancer sufferers with education and other necessary resources. (andyroddick.com, 02 Mar 2004)

Previous Olympics

Athens 2004