"I'd hear Rafael Nadal's press conferences & roll my eyes, I used to think 20% false humility" - Andy Roddick on his change of heart towards Spaniard

Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick recently took a deep dive into Rafael Nadal's humility towards his opponents before his marquee matches.

Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, having won 14 Roland Garros titles — the most any player has won at a single Grand Slam. Having said that, the 37-year-old never acts haughty whenever his credentials are mentioned, always maintaining a humble demeanor in his press conferences.

In that context, Andy Roddick recently invited journalist Jon Wertheim to his podcast, where they discussed the ins and outs of the 22-time Major winner's mild-mannered attitude. The 2003 US Open winner disclosed that he previously felt that some of the answers the Spaniard would give in his interviews before a big match during his early years were phony.

"I would hear his press conferences and I would roll my eyes, 'cause it would be, you know, a pre-press deal at Roland Garros and he's playing some guy who is 80 in the world against who, you know, has won 87 matches in a row at Roland Garros," Andy Roddick said on the 'Served With Andy Roddick' podcast (12:03). "[He's like], 'The guy plays well, I don't know it, anything can happen today...'"

However, after seeing Rafael Nadal's interactions off the court, the American was quick to change his mind.

"It's really endearing 'cause I operated the same way, just nearly not as well or nearly as long! But kinda dealt from a place of insecurity, right? Won certain type of matches 400 times in my career, and at 401, I'm like, 'Gonna be all different this time,'" Roddick said (12:41). "And it's an endearing quality, I used to think I don't know, 20% false humility and you're saying the right thing 'cause you don't wanna be disrespectful."

"That's a lot of intent to present yourself a certain way, but then you see him behind the scenes and the way that he operated, the way he treated people," he added (13:15). "And you're like, 'Okay, this guy is who he is.' He is that sort of human."

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Andy Roddick on Rafael Nadal - "It was nice to see someone who's utterly dominant, and also be kind of scared of the next result"

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick at the ATP Heritage Celebration event in 2013

Andy Roddick also claimed that the 22-time Major winner never expressed full confidence in his game despite monopolizing the ATP Tour. He believes that this quality of the Spaniard makes him the most relatable figure among the famed Big 3.

"It was nice to see someone who's utterly dominant and also be kind of scared of the next result," Andy Roddick said (13:34). "Made him relatable, especially to someone like me who sees these three guys as absolute superheroes. For me, he was the most relatable."

Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, has had an increasingly difficult time during his 2024 comeback. The 37-year-old won his first two matches in comfortable fashion at his first tournament back at the Brisbane International in January. However, he picked up a muscle tear during his quarterfinal loss at the ATP 250 tournament.

Since then, Nadal has not been in good physical shape, having withdrawn from the Australian Open, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the Indian Wells Masters. He will most likely return to action during the European clay swing, which begins in April.