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Andy Roddick inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

By The Sports Xchange
Andy Roddick, USA, returns the ball to Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina, in the third set of their fourth-round match during the 2012 U.S. Open held at the National Tennis Center. File photo by Monika Graff/UPI
Andy Roddick, USA, returns the ball to Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina, in the third set of their fourth-round match during the 2012 U.S. Open held at the National Tennis Center. File photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License Photo

Andy Roddick, who owns just one Grand Slam title while playing against today's Big Four greats, has been inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray stood in the way of the American winning more than one major. Roddick lost to Federer in the finals four times.

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"I'm not the best of all time. I'm not going to win Wimbledon. I'm not the best of my generation. I'm not the most well-behaved. I'm not the most polished," Roddick said in a speech Saturday at Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. "I'm also never going to take this honor for granted. I may not be a lot of things, but from this day forward, I'm never going to be anything less than a Hall of Famer."

Roddick was inducted into the Hall along with Belgian Kim Clijsters, six-time Paralympic medalist Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch and journalist and historian Steve Flink. Tennis instructor and innovator Vic Braden, who died in 2014, was inducted posthumously.

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Roddick thanked his coaches, father and his wife, model Brooklyn Decker.

"I can't believe the level of tennis that I got to see in my career," Roddick said. "The shots hit, the records that were broken, and the records that continue to be broken. Thanks to Murray, Novak, Roger and Rafa for playing the game at a higher level than it's ever been played.

"The 'Big Four' guys really (ticked) me off most of the time but I'm absolutely proud to have my life and career associated with such quality individuals. I got to guard Jordan, I went the distance with Ali, I pitched to Babe Ruth. I feel like I know what it must have been like to watch Picasso. I saw it all."

Clijsters won four Grand Slam singles titles and 31 overall. She won the 2009 U.S. Open as an unranked, wild-card entry after she came out of retirement after the birth of her daughter.

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