ATP Tour

On This Day: Roddick trucks to No. 1 debut

Two months after capturing his lone Grand Slam title at the US Open, Andy Roddick broke through at the top of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time on 3 November 2003. The fan favourite held on to the top spot for 13 weeks, long enough to earn ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours.

The last American man to win a major singles crown, Roddick won five additional tour-level tournaments that season — including at least one on every surface. Finding instant success in his partnership with Brad Gilbert, who had him ditch his trademark visor for a trucker cap, Roddick peaked during the North American hard-court swing with a 19-match winning streak, sweeping the three big titles on offer.

He lost only two sets in winning the Montreal ATP Masters 1000 — one of them to Roger Federer in the semis — and was even more dominant on his way to another Masters 1000 trophy in Cincinnati. The only set Roddick lost in Cincinnati came against Mardy Fish to start the final, when he came back by winning a pair of tie-breaks.

Roddick continued to cruise at the US Open until he was two sets behind and staring down a match point against David Nalbandian in the semis. A booming serve helped him out of trouble in the third-set tie-break, which he went on to win before dominating the final two sets. He stayed hot in a straight-sets final win against Juan Carlos Ferrero, who briefly rose to No. 1 on the heels of his New York run.

Two months later, behind semi-final showings in Basel and the Madrid ATP Masters 1000, Roddick overtook the Spaniard for World No. 1. His run was ended in February 2004 by Roger Federer, who maintained ownership of the top spot for a record 237 straight weeks.

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