American ex-pro Andy Roddick recently remembered his showdown against Serena Williams that led to his record defeat against the WTA legend. The 42-year-old admitted to the fact that despite being in a similar age group, Williams was much ahead of him in terms of strength.
He also mentioned the reason behind the Williams sisters’ dominant career on grass despite not having early access to the surface.
Andy Roddick Remembers the Childhood Matchup Against Serena Williams
Richard Williams invited renowned coach Rick Macci to Compton back in 1991, prompting his life-changing decision to travel to the troubled neighborhood and train Venus and Serena at his Florida academy the following year. During that period, Serena had the opportunity to train alongside Andy Roddick.
In a recent conversation at the TC Live studio, Roddick remembered the practice match he played alongside the WTA legend. To fans’ surprise, he admitted how Williams defeated him with a commendable lead. This also ended Roddick’s record against her.
“I lost a practice set to Serena! We were at Macci’s together. I lost my career record against Serena’s 0 and 1, so I can’t help. I lost a set 6-4 when we were like 10. We’re pretty much the same age, but I was like dodging raindrops, and at that age, she was already bench-pressing dump trucks,” he said.
On being asked about the possible reason behind the Williams sisters’ commendable achievements on grass, he opened up about his analysis on the same.
“Yeah, their ball flight, their power, and their ability to move and run through shots, and most importantly, something that kind of doesn’t get talked about enough on grass is the ability when you’re running to create pace to get out of trouble. If you know that you’re kind of a runaway train, one way you have to create that pace mechanism because you need weak reply because the court is open and it’s tough to turn and burn,” he added.
The Williams sisters collectively gathered 12 Wimbledon titles in their overall careers. Serena Williams’ last victory at a grass court major was recorded back in 2016, after which the only American who attained this feat was Coco Gauff in 2025.
When Serena Williams Predicted the Score of an Imaginary Showdown Against Andy Murray
Williams once opened up about what would happen if she played the ATP legend Andy Murray in their prime. During her presence at The Late Show with David Letterman, she opened up about her bonding with the three-time Grand Slam champion. She also opened up about the imaginary situation of being in a showdown against him.
“Andy Murray, he’s been joking about myself and him playing a match. I’m like, ‘Andy, seriously, are you kidding me?’ For me, men’s tennis and women’s tennis are completely, almost two separate sports. If I were to play Andy Murray, I would lose 6-0, 6-0 in five to six minutes, maybe 10 minutes,” she said.
A match made for #Wimbledon@serenawilliams and @andy_murray are victorious on their mixed doubles debut together on Centre Court pic.twitter.com/v76pzIiU1e
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 6, 2019
Although not against it, Williams has officially shared the court alongside Murray as a mixed doubles partner at Wimbledon back in 2019. Although the highly anticipated campaign ended in the third round, it still remains one of the most memorable pair-ups in the sport.