Former World No.1 Andy Roddick is known to be a huge Novak Djokovic enthusiast. Djokovic’s rise to becoming arguably the greatest men’s singles tennis player of all-time was gradual, but has happened eventually. Not many gave the Serbian a chance of winning many matches, let alone multiple Grand Slams and big-ticket tournaments.
Roddick was one of those people initially. However, after playing against Djokovic and observing his career closely after retirement, the American legend has credited the 23-time Grand Slam champion for acknowledging his weaknesses in term of fitness. Djokovic turned it all around to become a lean machine, who could play well and for long durations in all conditions.
Andy Roddick reveals tactic against Novak Djokovic
When it comes to their men’s singles head-to-head record, Andy Roddick played Novak Djokovic between 2007 and 2012. Not surprisingly at the time, the American ended up leading 5-4. Although in their last 2 clashes, Djokovic comfortably beat him in straight sets, which signified how much his game had improved and that he had become virtually unbeatable against any opponent.
In a column that he recently wrote for Betway, Roddick revealed that he had a clear cut plan against Djokovic. He had observed that he had a better chance to win against the current World No.2 back then if he just managed to keep making him play and run around the court by extending rallies. Djokovic was someone who was impatient and not that fit in his younger days, as he aimed to finish off points quickly.
If present day Djokovic is considered and should a player employ Roddick’s strategy against him, he is sure to lose the battle. According to Roddick, this is because Djokovic has managed to transform himself into a player who can cover all parts of any court in the world incredibly well by being both flexible and agile. He also believes that changing his diet from eating meat and gluten often to going completely vegan has also helped him lose fat and become quicker and relaxed. As a result, he can sustain himself on court for longer periods of time.
Roddick was quoted as saying in his column –
“Novak’s progression, just on the physical side, has been unlike anything I’ve seen in pro sports. When I used to match up against Djokovic – and I had a solid record against him – I wanted to keep him out there, I wanted to extend rallies. Now, that’s a surefire way to lose.
“The way that he’s taken care of his body, not just from a training standpoint, but from a dietary standpoint, has left no stone unturned. He’s been such a professional throughout the years.
“He took a weakness and turned it into one of the biggest strengths that we’ve seen in professional tennis. I give him so much credit for that.
“It will be weird for the tennis universe when Novak moves on. We’ve become almost entitled to watching the greatness of these players for so long now.”
Roddick wasn’t always a Djokovic admirer
Understandably, when Roddick was at his peak when he was amongst the top 10 players in the world in the 2000s, he didn’t rate Djokovic that highly in any aspect. He had beaten in many high-profile clashes such as the Dubai Open 2008 semi-final and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Rogers Cup tournaments in 2009 and the 2010 Cincinnati Masters.
Additionally, Djokovic was known to retire from many of his matches in between or call trainers, which disrupted the flow of the match and one such instance was in the 2008 US Open quarterfinal. Roddick, who is extremely straightforward in his opinions, did not mince his words after the match and slammed Djokovic for his health issues and fitness not being up to the mark for a professional tennis player.
However, Djokovic realized that his body could not consume certain products and as a result, gave up not just dairy, hard meat and gluten, but all sorts of processed foods, refined grains and acidic beverages such as tea and coffee. Transforming himself as a health icon who watches what he consumes like a security person guarding diamonds and incorporating the likes of Tai chi, yoga and meditation in his training, the results began to show on court.
Djokovic won as many as 15 Grand Slams in the 2010s decade and shattered many other ATP records in the process. In the 2020s decade, Djokovic has already won 7 of them remarkably and has not indicated stopping anytime soon.
