Andy Roddick recently issued an apology to the legendary Steffi Graf after unknowingly snubbing her in his tennis ‘GOAT’ discussions. According to Roddick, no tennis champion in the history of the sport is as humble as Graf. The American former ATP No. 1 also went on to opine that it’s the German’s humility that has seen her maintain a low profile for the most part since her 1999 retirement.
Roddick, during a recently-released episode of his Served podcast, called Graf a ‘GOAT’ after expressing his guilt for not talking about her on a previous episode when discussing about the best tennis players of all time. During her illustrious career, the German won a whopping 22 singles Major titles and finished as the year-end World No. 1 on a record eight occasions.
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“Steffi is the warmest, nicest person, and by the way, as we’re talking through these marches through history, and I made the mistake of the recap show. Like, any conversation that talks about historical context in winning Grand Slams and winning the Grand Slam and all that, Steffi needs to be top of mind all the time. I’m guilty of it. She’s a GOAT,” Roddick said. (from 15:00)
The 2003 US Open men’s singles champion went on to opine that players like Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras, because of their preference to live low-key, private lives away from the limelight, aren’t talked about enough.
“You look at her win percentages, when she retired and what her Grand Slam count was, she retired eight or nine years before Serena did. She’s amazing. She’s in that conversation firmly, and because we don’t see her, and I think it’s the same with Pete (Sampras), they’re not top of mind all the time, and that doesn’t change their accomplishments,” he added.
Going on to talk about Graf’s humility, Andy Roddick said:
“She’s just so fantastic. She’s also the most humble champion of all time. You can’t even talk to her about her without her wanting to stop the conversation. So if you’re her, the last thing you want to do is go to a venue or event or an audience and all they want to do is celebrate you.”
Steffi Graf’s ‘overwhelming’ admission about remarkable Golden Slam achievement
The 1987 French Open marked Steffi Graf’s maiden success as a singles player on the Grand Slam stage. The teenager then sent shockwaves through the tennis world as she won all four Majors and also the women’s singles Olympic gold medal the following year, completing the Golden Slam in the process.
In a post-retirement interview, the German reflected on her on-court successes in 1988 and remembered how overwhelming the experience was for her as a 19-year-old to suddenly find herself as a global sporting icon.
“I was 19 years old and, you know, winning my first Grand Slam the year before, and the suddenly winning four in the same year and topping it off with going to Seoul and winning the gold medal. I mean it just was overwhelming really at that point,” Graf said.
Two years after Steffi Graf’s retirement, she tied the knot with fellow tennis legend Andre Agassi, and the lovebirds went on to become parents to son Jaden and daughter Jaz.
Edited by Sudipto Pati