What’s Next For Andy Roddick?
Posted by kirsch17 on August 15th, 2012
As you get older your body stops responding the way it did when you were in your early 20s which means you might not be able to do the things you use to do, including play your favorite sport. There comes a time in every person’s life when you have to hang up the dream of playing. Some have this realization earlier than others and some resist it more than others. Andy Roddick might be one of those people who will resist whenever the time comes. But that time might be now.
At 29 years old Roddick is hardly old to anyone’s standards, but in sports he is almost at the age of retirement. Starting his professional tennis career in 2000 and winning his first, and only, Grand Slam title at The US Open in 2003 and then reaching the world number one ranking in 2004, Roddick seemed to be the best thing that happened in American tennis since Andre Agassi. But this would all become a thing of the past. Andy Roddick has had a fantastic career playing on the ATP Tour, winning 32 career singles titles, making it to the finals of 3 Wimbledon’s, including the epic 5 set loss to Roger Federer in 2009 and the US Open win in 2003 and winning a total of $20,499,120 prize money in 12 years. The only thing that hasn’t worked in Roddick’s favor is in the Grand Slam department.
Roddick has had to deal with the speculators for a few years about when he is going to retire but that 2009 Wimbledon Final shut people up for a little while. But the talks are sure to start again after this week’s disapointing loss to Jeremy Chardy of France in Cincinnati after citing back spasms for why he called the trainer out and for why he ultimately lost the match. It’s crazy to think Roddick should retire at 29 considering Federer is 30 and is back at his number one ranking he held for so long, but at the end of the day Roddick is not as good as Federer and will probably never reach the level he was once at in 2003-2004 again. Maybe Roddick will stick around for five or six more years and continue to play the game he loves and chose for a career, but maybe not. The next hope of American tennis is no longer in the hands of Brooklyn Decker’s husband and that is something Andy has to come to terms with. With Roddick’s recent stint of injuries (sore shoulder, back spasms) retirement might be closer than we think.
