{"id":323303,"date":"2025-12-03T19:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T19:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323303\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T19:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T19:43:08","slug":"andy-roddick-breaks-down-the-alcaraz-sinner-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323303\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Roddick breaks down the Alcaraz\u2013Sinner marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Roddick<\/a> opened his post-season Q&A episode of Served by diving straight into what fascinates fans the most: athleticism, pressure, and what truly separates tennis from any other sport. The former world No. 1 answered questions in the latest episode of his podcast, which included a question from none other than the singer John Legend.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter seeing Sinner and Alcaraz have that epic five-plus hour French Open final, I texted a friend saying I think these are the most impressive athletes in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cDo you still think tennis players are the most impressive athletes?”<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the marathon Roland Garros final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, Roddick put it, \u201cI still think tennis players are the best athletes in the world,\u201d the 2003 US Open champion said. \u201cI think the physicality, the well-rounded nature of what you have to be\u2014you can’t just be strong. You have to have the endurance, the motor skills, and the ability to get on a plane and recover and do all of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked which athletes could rival tennis players, Roddick praised the complexity of sports such as basketball and soccer while noting the narrow skill specialisation in baseball. But his message remained clear: tennis requires completeness. \u201cYou can’t just be strong. You have to have the endurance, the motor skills, and the ability to get on a plane and recover,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Recovery and the brutal post-match reality<\/p>\n

Post-match recovery, Roddick explained, was never negotiable\u2014especially during late-night runs at the US Open. He broke down the sequence with blunt clarity: stretch immediately, hydrate, find ice, and force down food even when your stomach rebels. \u201cThe part I hated the most was having to eat within 20 minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cDougie Spring, my trainer\u2014legend\u2014would come with this gross, foamy smoothie. I hated eating immediately after matches\u2026 but you have to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What fans don\u2019t see, Roddick emphasised, is that media obligations were never allowed to interfere with the body\u2019s needs. He dismissed the idea that players should rush to satisfy journalist schedules. \u201cPress never dictated the routine after the match; recovery always dictated when you did press,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople would get bent out of shape\u2026 and I\u2019m like, \u2018Asshole, I have to stay till 2:30. I need my body tomorrow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Sports betting & player safety: The hidden threat<\/p>\n

Roddick was equally direct when discussing sports betting and the growing danger it poses to players, especially with the rise of micro-bets. He praised Major League Baseball for eliminating small-sample wagers and urged tennis to follow. \u201cStop these one-pitch bets. Stop these one-serve bets,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you have these micro-bets\u2026 the smaller the sample size an athlete can \u2018throw\u2019 something, the more likely you are to get bad behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned that modern betting culture makes athletes more vulnerable than ever, especially with social media giving angry gamblers instant access. \u201cAnyone betting a significant amount of money on one serve isn\u2019t going to care about your feelings,\u201d he said. Roddick also condemned the warped mentality around gambling losses: \u201cIsn’t it amazing how bettors think? When they win, it’s \u2018I am a great gambler.\u2019 When they lose, it\u2019s \u2018That player sucks.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Roddick opened his post-season Q&A episode of Served by diving straight into what fascinates fans the most:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[7088,6733,49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-323303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-andy-roddick","tag-atp","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}