Andy Roddick confessed that he lost in his only practice match against Serena Williams when both were just juniors. The former World No. 1 revealed an unknown encounter between them at the age of 10, when they trained together at the Rick Macci Academy.
Roddick was participating in a conversation on Tennis Channel when he recalled his head-to-head against the 23-time Grand Slam champion. "I lost a practice to Serena, we were at Macci’s together (Rick Macci Academy). I lost my career record against Serena 0-1, so I can’t help, I lost a set 6-4 and we were like 10."
Serena Williams—born in September 1981—is 11 months older than Roddick—born in August 1982. Both were developed at the Rick Macci Academy, one of the most prestigious tennis academies in the world, which boasted legendary students including Roddick, the sisters Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, and Maria Sharapova.
"We’re pretty much the same age," Roddick acknowledged. "But I was like dodging raindrops, and at that age she was already bench pressing dump trucks," the 2003 US Open champion joked.
