Andrew Stephen Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 30, 1982. This American tennis favourite picked up his first racket at the age of four and turned pro in 2000. Known for his explosive and powerful serves, Roddick ranks sixth in the world as of 2007 as well as holds the record for the fastest serve in professional tennis, clocked at a dizzying 155 mph.

He became the Grand Slam singles champion after winning the 2003 US Open and competed in three other Grand Slam finals, all of which he lost to Federer. In the same year, he was honoured as ATP’s Player of the Year, becoming the youngest American to claim the number 1 spot at the end of the year during the Indesit ATP race.

In 2004, he won the Miami Masters and capped the year off in the world’s number 2 spot, aside from bagging the top spot in the US.

By 2006 he was able to beat Andy Murray at the Cincinnati Masters and moved on to compete against Fernando Gonzales, beating him to reach the Master’s finals of the year. He defeated Spanish champ Juan Carlos Ferrero to win his 21st career title, which was his first and only title for 2006.

2007 saw Roddick bagging the ATP title for the seventh straight year. He was also one of key players who led the US team to its first Davis Cup win against Russia, which was last won by the US in 1995.Roddick won his match against Dmitry Tursunov before James Blake, and Bob and Mark Bryan brought the winning matches home.

Roddick has recently announced that he will not participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics but instead will concentrate on training for the US Open.