Rick Macci is known more as the childhood coach of Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Maria Sharapova. However, the 7-time USPTA National Coach of the Year award winner also coached the 2003 US Open men’s singles champion, Andy Roddick for the longest time. Roddick is perhaps one of the biggest ‘what if’ stories in American tennis and there’s no one better to solve that puzzle, better than Macci.
In an exclusive interview with The SportsRush, Rick Macci talked about Andy Roddick facing criticism for not winning more Grand Slams and titles than he should have. However, the super coach believes that Roddick ‘overachieved’ since his biggest competitors, including, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic were more complete players than the American.
Macci opined that had Roddick not played in that era, he would have won a minimum of 4-5 Grand Slams.
“He (Roddick) was a pretty good athlete, he wasn’t an elite athlete. I knew he wasn’t going to be an (Andre) Agassi or (Pete) Sampras but I thought he could be like (Jim) Courier. But remember, there were 3 other characters at the time – Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
“So if Roddick wasn’t playing at that time, he would have probably won 4-5 Grand Slams and had a bucket of them. But he beat those guys early on. Maybe they check more boxes as complete players, but Roddick did enough.
“If you are playing Federer and you win, then you are playing Djokovic. It was hard from the Round of 16 or quarters on for anybody. But had Roddick won 3-4 Grand Slams, we would have looked at him differently than just as the last American to have won a Grand Slam,” Macci was quoted as saying in the interaction.
Interestingly, Rick Macci also brought up Roger Federer in the conversation to point out that the only unfortunate error Andy Roddick made against him, denied him legendary status in American tennis.
Rick Macci lauds Andy Roddick despite Wimbledon 2009 final tragedy
Andy Roddick’s best chance to defeat Roger Federer was in the Wimbledon 2009 final. Roddick had Federer on the ropes in the fifth set. Yet, at a crucial juncture, the American hit a high backhand volley wide, which he should have easily put away as a winner.
Rick Macci commented that had Roddick hit that correctly, he would have been immortal in tennis history. If Roger Federer is put aside, then Andy Roddick was ‘great on grass’. So with whatever little he had, Roddick made the most out of it, and that ‘consistency’ is what impresses Macci the most.
“Listen, he was great on grass. Remember, he had that high backhand volley at Wimbledon (2009 final) against Federer and if he had made that, he would have ended up winning that match, okay?
“He was hard to break, he had a great second serve, his return was decent. Andy Roddick overachieved. I look at greatness as consistency. He got the most out of his ability, he never tanked, he never bailed out, when he thought he couldn’t win at the highest level, he retired,” Macci added.
Present American men’s players, including, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, Ben Shelton, and Frances Tiafoe are vying to become the first from the country to win a Grand Slam after Andy Roddick won the US Open back in 2003. The wait has been long but it also shows Roddick’s legacy, which is difficult to match, let alone overtake.
