Andy Roddick compares Jannik Sinner to Roger Federer in massive statement
Hindustan Times
14 September, 2024, 10:00 am
Last modified: 14 September, 2024, 10:09 am
Jannik Sinner soaked in glory at the recently concluded US Open 2024, becoming the first Italian man to clinch the men’s singles title.
Sinner was in sensational form as he defeated Taylor Fritz in a one-sided affair. The world No. 1 dominated Fritz and when the match ended, the result was as predicted.
Speaking on Served with Andy Roddick podcast, he said, “I said hello to him because you walk in the locker room and my locker is way to the right but he takes up kind of that centre area right before you gotta make a move left or right in the men’s locker room. Darren (Cahill) was there and Andre (Agassi) was there and at that point it would have been like I was just being a (expletive) if I didn’t say hello to all of them.”
“I had never met Jannik Sinner before in my life. I don’t know a lot of the players because I’m not at all the tournaments. I said hello quickly and then got out of the way because my biggest fear ever is being in someone’s way when they’re getting ready for a match or something.”
Comparing Sinner to Roger Federer, Roddick said, “But he is the most relaxed person I’ve ever seen beside of Roger before a Slam final. It feels like he has this very quiet confidence about the way that he goes about things. Even his celebrations aren’t for anyone else, it’s like this relief like okay and you feel like he was ready to start again like an hour after the US Open, which is a problem for the rest of the earth.”
The US Open title also saw Sinner silence his critics who had been after him at the start of the tournament due to a doping controversy. It was revealed he tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March, but avoided a ban. An independent tribunal accepted his defence that the test results were affected by unintentional contamination.
