EXCLUSIVEAndy Roddick Jokes His Kids 'Didn't Really Know' He Had 'Anything to Do With Tennis': 'They Thought I Was a Club Coach'
Andy Roddick exclusively tells OK! about how his kids didn't 'really know' he was a great tennis player.
Sept. 9 2024, Published 8:15 a.m. ET
Andy Roddick's kids sure know how to keep him humble!
The athlete may have won the 2003 U.S. Open and is an amazing tennis player, but his children, son Hank and daughter Stevie, whom he shares with wife Brooklyn Decker, weren't aware of his past.
Andy Roddick shares two kids with wife Brooklyn Decker.
"For a while I just figured the tennis chapter was kind of mostly over with. You're always going to have some attachment to it. You play here and there or come up to U.S. Open or something, but I didn't think there was going to be a new relevant chapter once I started my podcast, 'Served with Andy Roddick,' this year. It's pretty fun — and my kids didn't know I had anything to do with tennis. My son came to a live podcast show recently we did in Atlanta, so for him to see it, it's weird for him but fun for me because it's kind of like my two different lives merging," Roddick, 42, who partnered with Chase Sapphire Reserve to host some clinics and a live podcast at the Seaport at The Rooftop at Pier 17, exclusively tells OK!.
Andy Roddick said his kids didn't know he was an amazing tennis player.
"I didn't hide the fact that I played, but we don't have anything in our house from our jobs," the father-of-two admits. "So my son knew, but he thought I was like a club coach. Then he went to kindergarten, and the world ruined it for him. They seem to like every other sport more than tennis!"
In the meantime, Roddick, who retired in 2012, is really thriving as he gets to work on his podcast — especially since he didn't expect it to take off like it has. "The podcast has been fun. I spent a decade of my post-career doing nothing outside of tennis. The reason I came back was under unfortunate circumstances — during the pandemic, the Tennis Channel had nothing live to run, and so they thought it would be a good idea if I just came on every now and then to basically read the phone book," he quips. "I enjoyed that for a while, and when people started going back into the studio, they were happy to keep me on. I was happy to keep doing it, and then I felt like all of this new media, including YouTube, Spotify, etc., was very underserved for tennis players. If people wanted to consume tennis on a random Tuesday where it wasn't centered around live events, I felt like there was a clear void, so we decided to launch it."
"It's gone better than I thought!" he shares of his success. "I thought it would be a little fun hobby, and it's kind of been all consuming, but it's been great. Tennis is my first love, and I feel like we're dating again, which is great."
Andy Roddick said his kids aren't that interested in playing tennis.
For a while, there wasn't an opportunity for Roddick to "stay involved in tennis" without him moving somewhere, which wasn't something he was willing to do at this point in his life. "I did that for a long time," he says. "We have young kids, and I wanted to be around — or at least have the option of being around. Now, I can be involved and cover the game without completely uprooting my home life."
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While preparing for each episode, Roddick is on a text thread with Jon Wertheim and Producer Mike, where they'll trade stories — but won't commit to chatting about any topic in particular. "I have a list of things I've been writing down throughout the week, and then I write them in order," he explains. "Jon will pop on, I'll say, 'Whats got you going?' And then he'll have a thing or two which I'll jot down in the order, and then we just go. It's better for us to have a real conversation in real time than have these traditional meetings. I say we should all have strong opinions loosely held, so I think that's the magic of what we do."
"With this medium, you can have these conversations, whereas on live TV where you only have two minutes to get your point across and then a commercial comes on. I don't know if a show is going to be an hour or two. I let the conversation guide us, and I'm always going to defer to what's kind of most interesting in the moment. If I need to go back to something, I will, but it's gone well so far. I enjoy doing it."
Andy Roddick pictured at an event on August 28 in New York City.
It was also exciting for Roddick to bring the podcast to New York City on August 28, where he participated in a live recording, followed by an audience Q&A and exclusive cocktail party.
"Chase has been amazing. I've had a great relationship with them, especially post-career when I can add a bit more value to the event side of things and not have to worry about playing a match," he says of the partnership. "They've been a sponsor of the U.S. Open for 43 years, so a lot of what you see at the U.S. Open, which, in my opinion, is the best sporting event in the world, Chase has a big hand in that. They've been a great sponsor of our podcast."
Andy Roddick loves doing live shows.
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"The live shows are fun!" he continues. "It was a nice little cross section of tennis and music and drawing the similarities and pointing out the differences. We did it at The Rooftop at Pier 17, and it was great. I do the podcast most of the time from my backyard or my garage, so to actually be in front of people that have listened is kind of weird for us, but I like the live show. They are probably my favorite to do. It's the first thing since I retired that I haven't had to learn from scratch. We also did a couple of clinics."
Since Roddick is back in the spotlight, he has drawn in more fans. "I was surprised at the show we did with Chase. I stayed and talked with people afterwards, and I was surprised to see how many were 23 years old because that's obviously not my target demo. My favorite shows outside of the live ones where it may not be the biggest name, but it's a great story to tell. My fans seem to be attracted to those episodes even more when the players come on and talk about what they're doing. I am curious by nature, so this gives me a platform — or an excuse to be super curious."
