Andy Roddick provided a short but also very telling answer on how it feels to play against Novak Djokovic as the American tennis legend compared the Serb to a wall. On Tuesday, top-ranked American Taylor Fritz exited the US Open after Djokovic handed him a 6-1 6-4 6-4 defeat.
Fritz, ranked at No 9 in the world, has a big game but he didn't really stand much of a chance against Djokovic as the Serb pretty much controlled the match from the start to finish. Roddick, who clashed against Djokovic nine times during his career, reacted to Djokovic's win over Fritz with a gif.
What it’s like playing Novak pic.twitter.com/7htU3d6VY2 — andyroddick (@andyroddick) September 5, 2023
Roddick compares Djokovic to a wall after the Fritz win
Going into the match, 25-year-old Fritz was hoping to finally clinch his first win over Djokovic.
But it didn't happen as Djokovic now owns an 8-0 head-to-head against Fritz. Following the US Open loss to Djokovic, Fritz admitted that he just didn't play well enough to beat Djokovic.
“Yeah, thoughts on the match.
More like I needed to do a lot better on my serve. I need to serve much better and not just give away so many loose points on my serve. If I could actually serve I think to the standards that I know I can serve to, then, you know, then maybe I could work with something, it would be a closer match.
Obviously Novak being Novak, he’ll make me feel like I’m serving, you know, worse than I am, but, in other matches I wouldn’t get, I guess, as punished for missing so many first serves. I can maybe get away with it, but with him, I have to serve better than 50 percent, and I have to hit my spots better.
That’s just how it is. It’s not rocket science. Like, I’m not going to be able to beat him or hang with him when he just gets to return second serves all day or my first serves are just going to him. I need to serve well, I need to hit spots," Fritz said after losing to Djokovic.