Andy Roddick gets hate for dropping some truth about Novak Djokovic

One has to be careful about what one says or writes about certain tennis players. Even if what is said is the truth, many fans on social media will find a reason to criticize the words if those words are negative comments about their favorite player. Plus, sometimes what is perceived as negative is simply an observation.

This was recently the case with Andy Roddick who said on the Tennis Channel after watching Novak Djokovic fall to Casper Ruud in the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Open that Djokovic's conditioning was "concerning." This certainly was not a ridiculous thing for Roddick to say as Djokovic seemed to struggle with endurance during most of the tournament. One time after a point he sat on his chair after a long rally and his right hand would not stop shaking.

The Serb also did not appear in peak form, either. This could be because he has not played as many events in 2024 as he normally does. Staying in shape to play high level tennis is difficult. Even a player younger than Djokovic can take a couple of weeks off and take a little time to get their conditioning back. Tennis is an endurance sport and the only way to stay at one's best is to continuously keep playing.

Andy Roddick's observations about Novak Djokovic were completely correct

Djokovic certainly is not going to do that at this stage of his career. He is arguably the greatest player ever and has nothing to prove to anyone. If he never picked up his racket again, his record number of Grand Slams of 24 is likely to stay the record for many years. The same is likely of his 40 Masters 1000 titles. However, he does continue to play and seeing him not be at the same level currently makes one wonder why he is not.

Roddick is a former ATP No. 1 who knows what it takes to try to stay on top of the tennis world as well. If he makes a comment, it should be respected. Plus, again, he did not say anything crazy, but social media reacted to Roddick as if he had said Djokovic was the worst player he has ever seen.

Because of that, Roddick felt the need to clarify his thoughts on his podcast, Served with Andy Roddick. Roddick said, "It was a little strange that he was like, laboring. His breath looked like it was short, especially against (Alex) De Minaur. It was like he was still trying to find his match fitness, but that is not a criticism. This is normal.

"I’m so scared of Nole’s Twitter people. I say something like he was breathing heavily and even though he was breathing heavily, they are like f*** you! I just eat s*** from them all the time."

Roddick was simply making an observation and it was a correct one. Sometimes people just hate to be hating. The facts were on Roddick's side.

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