A few days ago, Andy Roddick (photo ©Papushin) announced that he’d retire after the US Open and yesterday he did it.

Andrew Stephen Roddick was born on August 30, 1982 in Omaha, Nebraska. At school he practiced various sports, including basketball with his future fellow tennis player Mardy Fish, who became his great friend.

At 17, Andy Roddick thought about giving up tennis after a series of defeats but things improved and in 2000 he won the junior tournaments at the Australian Open and the US Open. In the same year, he made his first experience at a professional level.

The first ATP tournaments won by Andy Roddick were Atlanta, Houston and Washington, in 2001. He’s always been considered stronger on hardcourts but his first victories came on clay.

Andy Roddick won more tournaments in 2002 but his best year was 2003, when he won at the Queen’s but above all had an extraordinary summer when he won in Montreal, Cincinnati and won his only Grand Slam title at the US Open. In November he became no. 1 of the ATP ranking.

In the following years he had other victories, including important ones, in many tournaments but failed to win more Grand Slam titles since he lost the following finals he reached to Roger Federer.

In 2004, Andy Roddick won the tournament in Miami and the Queen’s but lost the Wimbledon final, which happened again in 2005.

In 2006, Andy Roddick won the tournament in Cincinnati but lost in the final of the US Open.

In the following years, Andy Roddick started suffering from various injuries that limited his activities allowing him to win tournaments for him minors. In 2007, he still managed to win the Davis Cup with his teammates remaining undefeated during the various rounds of the competition.

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In 2009, Andy Roddick reached at Wimbledon his last Grand Slam tournament final.

In 2010, Andy Roddick won again the tournament in Miami, one of the few positive events of the year.

This year, in part because of continuing problems with his back and other physical problems, Andy Roddick won “only” the tournaments of Eastburne and Atlanta so his retirement announcement wasn’t a surprise. Yesterday’s defeat to Juan Martin del Potro marked the end of his career.

Since 2001, together with his mother he directs the Andy Roddick Foundation, which aims to support children in need, in particular the victims of abuses and those suffering from serious diseases.

In 2009, Andy Roddick married model and actress Brooklyn Decker therefore he’ll have no reason to be bored.