Former World Number One, Andy Roddick was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Never has there been a more devastating case of a sports dream deferred. When Roddick turned professional at the turn of the century, it seemed that the script had been perfectly written for him.
But How Much Is Andy Roddick Worth?
Andy Roddick is worth about $60,000,000. This includes $20,640,030 in prize money during his years as a professional tennis player. That puts him at 18th on the all-time list for professional tennis players.
Nevertheless, it is the work that Roddick has done post his professional career that sets him apart from other former tennis players.
Beyond Real Estate, which has been particularly lucrative for Roddick, the American tennis player has also dabbled in film and radio.
A Tennis Dream Deferred
The last decade of the 20th century was dominated by compatriot Pete Sampras, who won his last Wimbledon title in 2000. Sampras had to wait another two agonising years before he won his next Major – the 2002 US Open – which also turned out to be his last.
It therefore seemed so appropriate that the leader of the next generation, Andy Roddick, would go on to win the 2003 US Open. It had seemed, for that fleeting moment, that this had all been written in the stars.
What we did not know was that this would be the last we see of Roddick in the “Winner’s Circle” at the Grand Slam tournaments. A Swiss maestro called Roger Federer would have a lot to do with that plot twist. A bit more on that later though.
However, Roddick was a spectacular and explosive tennis player. Check out some of these incdredible shots in this short compilation video:
Andy Roddick Sponsorships And Endorsements
It has been said – and the author of this article can attest to this – that Babolat rackets give a tennis player that extra bit of “pop”. Indeed, the players who use the Babolat do tend to produce that extra power on their shots.
While World Number One Rafa Nadal is currently the face of Babolat, Roddick definitely played a significant role in enhancing the image of the tennis racket brand. Prior to Roddick’s arrival on the ATP Tour, the more fancied brands were Wilson and Dunlop… and before that others like Prince and Pro Kennex thrived.
However, when Roddick produced that 249.4 km/h serve in 2004 – a record at the time – it reinforced the racket maker’s image as a power tool more than something you play tennis matches.
Prior to that record-breaking effort, we were all familiar with the Roddick serve but the record confirmed what we all already knew about him. Beyond that, Roddick also produced a booming forehand on the tennis court – as terrifying as anything we have ever seen on a tennis court.
While we accept that some of that is the quality of the racket, Roddick’s value to the Babolat brand cannot be disputed.
The Babolat Pure Drive had actually been discontinued when Roddick started playing professional tennis. He made it fashionable to use that racket again.
Then there are the Babolat shoes, which have become quite fashionable at club level around the world. It is also an area in which Roddick adds considerable value, as players like Nadal have apparel deals with other companies.
Roddick wears the Babolat Propulse III tennis shoes. Andy Roddick used to wear Reebok apparel before moving onto the grander tennis brand Lacoste. That Lacoste deal was worth $25 million, over a period of five years.
That was followed by a $1-million Lacoste eyewear deal, signed over a period of four years.
Roddick now wears TravisMathew’s TM Red headwear, shirts and shorts when he appears on the tennis court, mostly for exhibition tennis. It is also worth knowing that Roddick isn’t just an ambassador for his current apparel sponsor but he is also an investor with the company.
Roddick also has strong associations with car manufacturer Lexus, American Express, Rolex, Powerade, Parlux Fragrances, the Arizona Beverage Company, Microsoft Xbox and Sega.
Yeah, from a financial point of view there has been nothing to worry about for the American tennis star.
Andy Roddick On TV
Well, since becoming a professional tennis player, Andy Roddick has always been in front of the television set and boy did he put on a show when on court. Those who have dominated the game over time – before and after the emergence of Roddick – have been the most efficient and disciplined players.
Therefore Roddick, in many respects, was a breath of fresh air on an increasingly stale looking top level tennis court.
Like a player who had retired from the game almost a decade before Roddick turned professional (John McEnroe) he brought personality back into the sport.
While sometimes vilified for his oncourt behaviour when still a professional tennis player, the charisma that came to define Roddick as a tennis player would come to define him as a retired sportsman too.
His post-retirement career has actually panned out in a very similar manner to that of McEnroe.
It is just that Roddick got started with that trajectory well before he actually retired from the sport, when he made an appearance on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as himself.
Already there was a clear understanding of who his market was and how to influence it.
Let us just be clear about something. Not only was Andy Roddick a swashbuckling tennis player but he was/is an incredibly good looking man. A heartthrob.
In a previous blog post we commented on how John McEnroe managed to build a compelling brand for himself. Roddick mastered the tactic at a much younger age than McEnroe.
In an interview with Forbes, Roddick talks to Tim Newcomb about the value of using his primary career (tennis) to advance his post-retirement financial aspirations. The episode on Sabrina The Teenage Witch is a glaring example of this. He gives Sabrina tennis lessons on the show.
For a period, during his tennis career, Andy Roddick was also the de facto king of late night television.
Between 2002 and 2010, Roddick made 13 late night appearances on various shows. That included appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Live with Regis and Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Then there were a couple of appearances on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
Why do any of those appearances matter? Because Roddick was building an impressive profile for himself in a way that no professional tennis player had done before. For Roddick it did not end there either.
He also became the first and (we think) still the only male tennis player to host Saturday Night Live. You would think the late night television was enough for Roddick but it did not end there.
He also competed on the Weakest Link with Anne Robinson.
Then there was the commercial stuff that Roddick took part in quite frequently. That includes commercials for This is SportsCenter and even an appearance in a music video.
Andy Roddick The Radio Personality
Roddick actually secured a permanent gig on Fox Sport Radio, before he had retired from the sport but close to retirement nevertheless. It was as good a sign as any that his days as a professional tennis player were numbered.
The reality is he could have continued playing tennis for about five more years but at some point you need to start thinking about your financial future and the radio gig represented the start of that.
The radio gig was followed by an opportunity to host on Fox Sports 1 and commentate at Wimbledon. That said, he was no McEnroe (at ESPN) but was clearly heading in that direction post retirement.
Roddick has also made a movie appearance with his wife Brooklyn. It had to be a cameo in an Adam Sandler flick, didn’t it? The movie was the 2011 production “Just Go with It”.
Andy Roddick Tournament Wins
Andy Roddick will not go down as the greatest tennis player in history, based purely on the statistics. However, those statistics do not tell the whole story of a player who had all the weapons and also pulled the crowds.
Had it not been for the Roger Federer dominance at Wimbledon and the US Open, the script could have been very different indeed. During his career, Andy Roddick appeared in five Grand Slam singles finals.
Three of those were at Wimbledon and two at the US Open.the only one of those titles that he won was against an opponent that wasn’t Roger Federer.
In front of a partisan crowd on Ashe, Roddick beat Juan Carlos Farrero in straights at the 2003 US Open. The total tournament financial commitment for the men’s singles draw in 2003 was $7.3-million. Roddick would have walked away with a considerable chunk of that.
Roddick subsequently lost three Wimbledon finals and one US Open final to Federer.
Then there were the four Australian Open semi-final appearances, which many in the tennis fraternity have struggled to wrap their heads around. In 2003 Roddick battled his way past Younes El Aynaoui before being bounced out of the tournament by Rainer Schüttler in four sets.
At the 2005 Australian Open, Roddick got knocked out of the tournament by home favourite Lleyton Hewitt. Perhaps an easier result to digest but still a little mind boggling against a player with fewer genuine on-court weapons than Roddick.
That defeat also came in four sets.
The 2007 and 2009 Australian Open semi-final defeats were easier to understand. They were straight sets losses to Roger Federer. If anybody had Roddick’s number back then it was Federer.
Andy Roddick enjoyed a little more success in the Masters 1000 tournaments, where he made nine final appearances. He won five of those. Two of his four defeats in Masters 1000 finals came against a familiar face.
Federer beat Roddick at the 2004 Toronto Masters and followed that up with a win against the American at the 2005 Cincinnati Masters. Both defeats were in straight sets and both defeats came on hard courts.
The other two defeats came at Toronto in 2002, when Roddick lost to Guillermo Cañas in straights, and at Indian Wells in 2010 when Roddick lost to Ivan Ljubičić in straight sets.
Roddick’s first Masters 1000 win came at the 2003 Montreal Masters, when he beat Argentine David Nalbandian in straights. He followed that up with a win against compatriot Mardy Fish at the 2003 Cincinnati Masters.
Things quietened down a little until the 2004 Miami Masters, where Roddick beat another Argentine Guillermo Coria. After another dry spell at these top level turnaments, Roddick went on to beat the old foe Juan Carlos Ferrero at Cincinnati 2006.
Roddick’s second Miami win came against Tomas Berdych in straight sets and in 2010. It is perhaps also worth noting that Roddick has a Masters 1000 doubles win, achieved in 2009 when playing with Mardy Fish.
At the end of it all, Andy Roddick walked away with 32 ATP Tour singles titles, having appeared in 52 finals. A massive chunk of his final defeats came against Roger Federer there too. It is most uncanny when you think about it. Roddick beat Federer just three times in 24 outings. And that is all we have to say about that.
Andy Roddick The Philanthropist
The education of children who are most at risk of missing out on opportunity has been a priority for Andy Roddick. That is why he established the Andy Roddick Foundation, which strives to do just that – close the achievement gap for American children.
Most of that work centres around building sports and learning centres in and around Austin, Texas. Among the list of recipients from the Andy Roddick Foundation are: Kids in Distress, Sun-Sentinel Children’s Fund, Austin Children’s Hospital, Back to Basics Angel Fund, Glimmer of Hope, The Tiger Fund, Deliver The Dream, American Red Cross Special Funding for Hurricane Katrina Children, McCormack Tribune Foundation: Special Funding for Hurricane Katrina Children, Here’s Help, Inc., Settlement Home, Children’s Diagnostic & Treatment Center, A Safe Haven for Newborns and USA Florida Tennis On The Move.
Among those who have sponsored the foundation are: JM Family Enterprises, American Express, Sun Sentinel, Lexus and Welmer International. The list is actually significantly longer than that. However, it does give some meaningful indication on the extent of Roddick’s reach in American society.
Conclusion
There is a recently published list of the richest tennis players in the world and it features some of the more accomplished players the sport has ever seen. As talented as Andy Roddick was, he didn’t achieve nearly as much as some of the players on that list.
However, out of 25 players Andy Roddick comes in at 15 on the money list. Ahead of players like Billie Jean King, Jim Courier and even the great Chris Evert.
Evert is interesting because she is actually an example of somebody who had it all, the talent, the charisma and the looks. An American sweetheart if ever there was one.
That says a considerable amount about Roddick’s capacity to create a brand for himself.
Instead of diminishing, Roddick’s worth actually increased following his retirement. Perhaps that is why the Andy Roddick retirement actually came so early. The man could have played on longer if he wanted to.
We don’t imagine it was ever a difficult decision to make because he had so much clarity on the life that he planned to create post his tennis career. He might not be the greatest tennis player to ever walk this planet but he is certainly one of the richest.