![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/roddick-on-this-day-v2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n No 1 Club
\n On This Day: Roddick trucks to No. 1 debut<\/p>\n
American finished as year-end No. 1 in 2003<\/p>\n
November 03, 2025<\/p>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n
Andy Roddick rose to World No. 1 in 2003.
\n By Arthur Kapetanakis<\/p>\n
Two months after capturing his lone Grand Slam title at the US Open<\/a>, Andy Roddick<\/a> broke through at the top of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time on 3 November 2003. The fan favourite held on to the top spot for 13 weeks, long enough to earn ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours.<\/p>\n The last American man to win a major singles crown, Roddick won five additional tour-level tournaments that season \u2014 including at least one on every surface. Finding instant success in his partnership with Brad Gilbert<\/a>, who had him ditch his trademark visor for a trucker cap, Roddick peaked during the North American hard-court swing with a 19-match winning streak, sweeping the three big titles on offer.<\/p>\n He lost only two sets in winning the Montreal ATP Masters 1000 \u2014 one of them to Roger Federer<\/a> in the semis \u2014 and was even more dominant on his way to another Masters 1000 trophy in Cincinnati. The only set Roddick lost in Cincinnati came against Mardy Fish<\/a> to start the final, when he came back by winning a pair of tie-breaks.<\/p>\n Roddick continued to cruise at the US Open<\/a> until he was two sets behind and staring down a match point against David Nalbandian<\/a> in the semis. A booming serve helped him out of trouble in the third-set tie-break, which he went on to win before dominating the final two sets. He stayed hot in a straight-sets final win against Juan Carlos Ferrero<\/a>, who briefly rose to No. 1 on the heels of his New York run.<\/p>\n Two months later, behind semi-final showings in Basel and the Madrid ATP Masters 1000, Roddick overtook the Spaniard for World No. 1. His run was ended in February 2004 by Roger Federer<\/a>, who maintained ownership of the top spot for a record 237 straight weeks.<\/p>\n