"Most Americans never bothered me...but Andre Agassi was one I didn't really want to deal with" - Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick has laid bare his past apprehensions about facing Andre Agassi during the pair's playing days on the ATP Tour. Roddick's meteoric rise in the early 2000s coincided with the twilight phase of Agassi's career, and the two faced each other on six occasions before the latter's retirement in 2006.

Roddick and Agassi's first-ever ATP Tour-level clash came at the 2000 Miami Open. At the time, the former was widely regarded as a prodigious talent with a devastating serve, while the latter was the World No. 1, enjoying a stellar late-career resurgence. Agassi was the top seed in men's singles at the ATP Masters Series event, and he made short work of Roddick, who had received a wildcard entry into the main draw.

Andre Agassi also won the pair's next three encounters. In the semifinals of the 2003 Queen's Club Championships though, Andy Roddick finally managed to snap his losing streak against Agassi, but it would be the only win he would register over the eight-time Major champion.

Recently, the 2003 US Open champion cast his mind back to how he felt in the buildup to matches against his compatriots on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast. According to Roddick, Andre Agassi was the only American he specifically did not want to face at any tournament.

"Playing most Americans never bothered me. I actually liked it, but Andre (Agassi) specifically was one that I didn't really want to deal with," Roddick said (13:30).

The former World No. 1's admission came in light of Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe squaring off in the semifinals of this year's US Open. Fritz would later go on to defeat Tiafoe in five sets to reach his maiden Major final. Roddick suggested that the circumstances this time around for Fritz and Tiafoe were different because the pair hail from the "same generation".

"But I don't think that's the case here (Tiafoe vs Fritz). It's the same generation. It's not as if they've been in love with one of them for 15 years or 20 years, and one of them's not like some young punk upstart," Roddick added.

Roddick had previously revisited his nervousness ahead of his 2000 Miami Open second-round match against Agassi.

---

"Andre Agassi would punish people" - Andy Roddick's recollection of anxious thoughts ahead of Miami Open 2000 clash

Andy Roddick (L) and Andre Agassi (R) (Source: Getty)

During an earlier episode of the Served With Andy Roddick podcast in April this year, the 2003 US Open champion recalled his feelings of anxiety ahead of his second-round match against Andre Agassi at the 2000 Miami Open. Roddick also revisited their brief interaction in the locker room before the match.

"I try to stay off his way, I don't know if he knows who I am, at that point we didn't have an established relationship. He walks up and goes, 'Hi Andy!' He goes, 'I'm Andre, we'll have fun tonight.' I'm like, 'Okay, alright Andre Agassi.' I literally couldn't swallow, I couldn't breathe and as we go out there, we play and he was No. 1 in the world, I think. He would punish people," Roddick said.

Roddick and Agassi's final career meeting in the 2004 Cincinnati Open semifinals would also go the latter's way, condemning the former to a 1-5 record against the eight-time Major winner in the ATP Tour head-to-head.