When I reflect upon the career of Andy Roddick, several athletes from other sports immediately come to mind, such as Sergio Garcia, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and Greg Maddux.
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Andy Roddick won a U.S. Open, which is an admirable feat. But when you fail to ever win another major, your career must be considered more of a failure than a success.
Roddick is not alone though. The truth is, sometimes in sports you can be really good, but another athlete in the same sport can dominate it to such a degree that the Andy Roddick's of the world just can't break through against the superior talent.
So if Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal didn't exist, Roddick would have probably won several major championships. But the fact is, they did exist, which turned Roddick from a potential tennis legend to simply a "good" player.
We must also remember that Andy Roddick is an American, and for some reason, Americans and professional tennis just don't go together anymore. The times of American dominance in the sport almost feels prehistoric, so Roddick being dubbed as the greatest American player of his generation doesn't mean what it once did.
In my opinion, his legacy will be that of a promising talent that could never find that one-time magic of winning the U.S. Open ever again. And actually, the Open title he did win may have hindered his career more than it helped it, especially when you consider all the titles Federer and Nadal have won. From that perspective, Roddick's one major championship victory looks very unimpressive.
Andy Roddick was a good tennis player, but not a great one. Athletes that are great find ways to win more than one major title. Roddick may have been the best American player in recent years, but as I previously stated, that doesn't mean much nowadays.
So farewell Andy. You may have made a lot of money, but it still feels kinda empty, doesn't it?
total underachiever.
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