Meet John Roddick - 網球

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http://www.andyroddick.com/meet-john-roddick/

April 3rd, 2006 08:42 am
By Kate Flory

Recently, Andy employed older brother John as his coach, and we here at
AndyRoddick.com thought it was about time we got to know Team Roddick's
latest addition a little better.

John Roddick is the man who inspired Andy to start playing tennis. When Andy
was ten, the Roddick family moved to Boca Raton, Florida to reunite with John
who was a very exciting prospect at the Macci Tennis Academy. The doubles
world number one, Bob Bryan, recalls who used to be top dog in the Roddick
family.“John was always the big tennis star, the guy we looked up to. Andy
was just a little rug rat, running around and playing dinkum on the sidelines
while his brother was playing matches.”Indeed, Andy was known as Kid Roddick
because of his lack of height, and for being John's little brother.

John went on to be four time All American at the University of Georgia from
1995-1999 and was named UGA Athlete of the Year in 1998. He was a top US
junior and was ranked as high as number six internationally in singles, and
number three internationally in doubles. However a back injury ultimately put
a stop to John's professional career and he turned his attentions to coaching.

The Roddick Moros International Tennis Academy was opened in 1992 in San
Antonio, Texas by John Roddick and Christina Moros. At the time, John's
ambition was to “to bring the state of Texas junior tennis back to level it
used to be in the 70s and 80s”. The academy has been very successful and is
continuing to run in John's absence. Andy endorsed his elder brother's academy
saying “John and Christina’s knowledge of the game and the ability to get
the most out of their players is second to none.”

This is not the first time that John Roddick has coached his little brother.
When Andy was 15, John coached him and Mardy Fish, and Andy believes“he
knows me as well as anybody.” By all accounts, everyone is very happy with
Andy's decision to appoint John as his coach. Andy’s manager, Ken Meyerson
said“John has incredible credentials.” This was exemplified when another
of John's prodigies, Ryan Sweeting of the Bahamas, won the US Open junior
title last year.

Davis Cup captain, Patrick McEnroe enthused “John knows Andy as well as
anyone. He’s never stopped following his game and won’t be afraid to
criticise Andy if he sees something going wrong. He really respects John”.

Speaking exclusively to AndyRoddick.com, John discussed the long term goals
for Andy saying “Obviously winning Grand Slams is the top priority. I don’t
think you can really say one is more important than another, but I do think
Wimbledon holds a special place in the minds of tennis players.”

John doesn’t plan any major adjustments in Andy’s game as it is rather good
already. But he does have some ideas for improvement. “As far as Andy’s
training and preparation goes, we are not looking to reinvent the wheel. Andy
knows his game, and we need to get back to ripping forehands when he is set,
and being less predictable on some of his shots.”

John took charge shortly before the USA’s Davis Cup clash with Romania, six
weeks ago. We asked John how he has been finding life on the road with Andy
and his trainer, Doug Spreen. “Life on the road is good. Andy, Doug and I
have very similar interests (mainly sports), so we always have something
going on outside of the courts.”

In his last Andy Gram, Andy dished the dirt on his brother saying that in
their “fining system” John was fined a dollar for pouring “sugar on his
eggs instead of salt”. John elaborated on the fining system for us, and also
got his own back on Kid Roddick. “We have a fining system in place for
stupid moves. For example, if you are walking down the street and trip, that
is a dollar fine. If you say something like “are florists open on Valentines
day?” (Andy). That is a dollar.” Guess John just got even!


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"I'm not trying to hide from Federer. The more we play, THE BETTER."
-Ivan Ljubicic

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