"I was very jealous and still jealous of Roger Federer" - Andy Roddick still in awe of Swiss legend's 'easy' approach to tennis

Andy Roddick recently revealed being in awe of Roger Federer due to his effortless gameplay. Federer was one of the opponents Roddick faced on most occasions at major events, with 2004 marking the first time the two crossed paths in a Grand Slam final.

Federer, who hung up his racket in 2022, held the World No. 1 ranking for 310 weeks and won 103 singles titles, including 20 Grand Slam titles. Federer remains third in the list of most Grand Slams won by a male player, behind Novak Djokovic (24) and Rafael Nadal (22).

In a recent ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast episode, the 42-year-old opened up about being jealous of Roger Federer because of his easy approach to tennis (1:11:38):

“I don’t have a lot of regrets. I don't envy people for their successes. I am more than happy that these 3 (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic) have won all of the tournaments that they've won. I was very jealous and still jealous of Roger (Federer) because he was the guy I played most in the biggest matches.”

Roddick added:

“Just because we were good on the same surfaces at the same time was his ease of operation, it just drove me crazy. Because I could see him on the Saturday before Grand Slam losing to some chucker on our practice court and I walked by and he was smiling, laughing.”

Federer and Roddick faced each other 24 times on tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head 21-3. Out of all their encounters, the men’s singles final at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships is regarded as one of the most memorable matches.

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Andy Roddick opens up on the classy gesture by Roger Federer after 2009 Wimbledon final

Roger Federer celebrates his five-set victory over Andy Roddick at the Wimbledon Championships 2009 (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Andy Roddick talked about Roger Federer's gesture towards the former after winning his 15th Grand Slam title, surpassing Pete Sampras' record of 14 titles at Wimbledon in 2009.

Renowned for being one of the longest Wimbledon finals, which lasted for 4 hours and 17 minutes, Federer defeated Roddick in a highly grueling five-setter, 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 16-14.

Talking about the final on its 10th anniversary, Roddick revealed Federer's classy gesture after the match. In an interview with CNN Sport in 2019, Roddick mentioned feeling 'devastated' after his loss to Federer. Shortly after, Federer gestured towards his team to allow the American some privacy. Recalling the incident, Roddick said (as quoted by "Express UK"):

"The Wimbledon champions locker isn't super big. So, when there's a lot of hustle and bustle, you don't really see people, but the room becomes very small when two people are in there. It's not like separate locker rooms or anything else," Roddick said.

"I walked in. I was pretty devastated. I was in disbelief and shock and lot of emotions and his team comes in. They should have been celebrating. I saw him [Roger Federer] out of the corner of my eye, he kind of gave them one of these 'Be quiet' signs and point to me and they walked out and went about their business in another part of the All England Club," he added.

Notably, the two met each other four times in a Grand Slam final, i.e., 2004, 2005, and 2009 at Wimbledon, and the 2006 US Open, with Federer emerging as the winner on all four occasions.