Andy Roddick has a new partner for his podcast, Served with Andy Roddick. If you have not yet heard the podcast, it is pretty great. Roddick is personable and funny, and he certainly knows how to talk tennis. Is this a way to get a shout-out from him? Not really, but if he wants to, we won't complain.
The reason the above is brought up (except for self-serving reasons) is that when Roddick made his announcement that his podcast will be joining the Vox Media universe beginning next year. The move gives Roddick's well-liked pod a greater chance at exposure. That's just good business. But when giving thanks about why his podcast is growing, Roddick gave thanks to those social media users who have most interacted with his program.
One of them is Pavvy G, who is, admittedly, a great follow on X/Twitter, and Pavvy is a devout follower of Novak Djokovic. He will defend the Serb in any way possible, even when Roddick says anything critical. Mind you, when Roddick does say anything critical, he has experience and facts to back him up.
Andy Roddick gets a new partner and Coco Gauff and Qinwen Zheng are rich
Pavvy G was classy enough to respond, though. He posted a tweet that said, "Congratulations!" with a GIF from the Godfather that says, "Keep your friends close, but your friends closer." That is a clear homage to Djokovic who defeated former No. 1 Roddick the last two times the players met (though Roddick led the head-to-head meetings 5-4).
In completely different news, Sportico released its list of top-paid female athletes for 2024 and Coco Gauff reigns supreme for the second straight year. Including endorsements, she made $30 million this year. The positive part for tennis fans is that nine of the top 15 female athletes were tennis players. Iga Swiatek was third on the list with an earnings of $21 million.
The most surprising player might be Chinese player Qinwen Zheng. She out-earned WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and made $20.6 million. $15 million of that came from endorsements. Sabalenka earned $15.7 million.
The best news is that the top 15 highest-paid female athletes in 2024 earned 27 percent more than in 2023. Maybe, and finally, female athletes are getting paid what they are worth. Let's hope the dollars only grow from here.