http://0rz.tw/ODqPE RODDICK TO RETIRE FOLLOWING US OPEN New York, U.S.A. by ATP Staff | 30.08.2012 Andy Roddick announced that he will retire following the US Open. On his 30th birthday, American Andy Roddick announced that he will be retiring following the US Open. “I'll make this short and sweet,” Roddick said to begin his press conference Thursday in New York. “I've decided that this is going to be my last tournament.” “It's been a process,” the former champion said of his decision. “Certain parts throughout the year, I've thought about it, just with the way my body feels, with the way that I'm able to feel like I'm able to compete now, I don't know that it's good enough. I don't know that I've ever been someone who's interested in existing on tour. I have a lot of interests and a lot of other things that excite me.” Roddick shared that he will turn his focus to the sports and learning centre he will be opening next year in Austin, Texas, through his foundation. “I'd like to be hands on with that and not see it periodically,” he said. “ I'd like to be kind of on site every day. There's some other projects, kind of side projects, that I've been doing. Those excite me a lot right now, so I'm looking forward to it.” The Nebraska native won his lone Grand Slam title in 2003 at the US Open and went on to become the youngest American to finish the season at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. He said of being the face of American tennis for much of the past decade: “ It's been a pleasure. It's not something that's easy every day, for sure, especially when you get kind of anointed at a young age, 17, 18. It's something you roll with. For the moments where it's been hard, I've had 25 positive things that have come from it. Again, anything that people may view as tough, I've been very lucky and very fortunate. I've gotten a lot of opportunities. I wouldn't trade away a day of it. I've loved every minute.” Since turning pro in 2000, Roddick has won 610 matches and 32 titles - respectively the second and third most among active players on the ATP World Tour. He became the 19th player in the Open Era to reach the 600 match wins plateau this past June en route to the grass-court title at the AEGON International at Eastbourne. The following month, he won the hard-court title at the BB&T Atlanta Open. In addition to his triumph nine years ago at Flushing Meadows, Roddick also reached four other major finals - three times at Wimbledon (2004, ’05 and ’ 09) and at the 2006 US Open - losing to Roger Federer on each occasion. The 2009 Wimbledon final was decided in a 16-14 fifth set; Roddick did not drop serve until the final game, holding 37 straight service games. “For 13 or 14 years, I was invested fully, every day,” he said, explaining what he was most proud of. “I've seen a lot of people throughout that time be invested for a year, kind of tap out for a year, come back. I've been pretty good about keeping my nose to the grindstone. I feel like I won a lot of matches from hard work and persistence.” Roddick, who opened with a straight-sets win over countryman Rhyne Williams, will play 19-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic in the second round Friday evening on Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I think I wanted an opportunity to say good bye to people,” he said. “I don't know how tomorrow's going to go. I hope it goes well and I hope I'm sticking around.” Roddick說他還有很多事情讓他感到興趣也想去完成，例如明年在Austin開幕的運動學校。 提到了身為美國網壇近10年來的靈魂人物，他說17、8歲就得到這些關注對他來說不是件簡 單的事，但也因此得到了很多機會，他很享受這些時光。 而這10幾年來的成就最引以為傲的就是持續不斷的努力，過去的13、14年每天都花了大把 時間在網球這檔事上，而這些努力也反映在成績上面。 最後，他說他想給大家一個機會跟大家道別，也不知道明天的比賽會如何，希望自己能待 在球場上多一點的時間。 --

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