Andy Roddick remembers his fears of Andre Agassi: “I didn’t want to have anything to do with him”

Andy Roddick recalled his fears of facing Andre Agassi during his career. Roddick’s earlier rise on the ATP Tour coincided with the final years of Agassi’s career, with the two facing each other six times between 2000 and 2004.

They have never met in a Grand Slam tournament and have only reached the final once, at the 2003 Houston Open, where Agassi won the title. In their six meetings, Agassi has the edge 5-1.

Recently, on his podcast Served with Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion commented on the US Open semifinal between fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, recalling how he used to feel when competing against other Americans: “Playing against most Americans, I never minded. I even liked it, but Andre (Agassi) was one I didn’t really want to be involved with,” Roddick said.

The former world number one compared his situation to the Fritz-Tiafoe clash, suggesting that it is not the same this time as they are 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 like they’ve been in love with one of them for 15 or 20 years, and one of them is not like a young punk,” Roddick added.

It’s not the first time Roddick has admitted that facing Agassi was mentally challenging. Back in April of this year, in a previous podcast episode, he recalled a brief interaction with the 8-time Grand Slam champion: “I try to stay out of his way, I don’t know if he knows who I am.” At that point, we didn’t have a direct relationship. He comes up to me and says, ‘Hi Andy!’ He goes, ‘I’m Andre, we’re going to have a lot of fun tonight.’ I said, ‘Okay, all right, Andre Agassi.’ “I couldn’t swallow, I couldn’t breathe, and when we went out there, we were playing, and he was No. 1 in the world, think I was punishing people.”