Andy Roddick has recounted a story when Andre Agassi said he was an “a**hole” for complaining about the weather whilst on tour.
Roddick was not the first or indeed last professional player to complain about conditions but during one Australian Open, there was one person who no longer wanted to hear it.
Speaking on his Served podcast, Roddick recalled a time that Agassi labelled him an “a**hole” for repeatedly complaining about the temperature.
“I remember I was on tour with Andre,” he said. “And the greats have this ability to take something that seems really stressful or hard and they put in very simple terms.
“One time we were in Australia, it was one of those days where it felt like a hair dryer outside. It’s 140(°F) on court and the wind’s blowing, it’s just disgusting.
“And so I’m in the training room. Kind of just bulls**ting and having fun. Guys are walking in and Andre’s in the corner, kind of not saying much, having a conversation with someone.
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“I talk and the person leaves, and Andre goes ‘dude, it’s the third fucking person you’ve talked to about how hot it is. You’re an asshole.’
“I’m like ‘what do you mean? Like, you’re right, but why?’
“And he goes ‘you’re sitting here complaining. How many people in the world have to be better than one person a day at their job?’”
Roddick said that rather direct point of criticism ‘blew my mind” and helped him change his mindset when approaching his playing.
“It blew my mind, right? Because it’s like you put it into a thing where it’s like the day you’re not motivated, you don’t have to be more motivated than everyone. You have to be better, physically, mentally than the person you’re playing.
“You don’t have to be perfect every day until you get to the semis then you got to bring it a little bit.”
Roddick was joined on the podcast by Frances Tiafoe who agreed that you only have to be a little better than those in front of you during the early rounds.
“That’s a crazy comment, because honestly, you only have to be just a little bit better than that guy, especially in the early rounds,” he said. “It’s kind of like, I don’t have to be exceptional. I have to be a little bit better than that guy on that day, whatever conditions, climates, whatever the case may be. Sometimes we make it really complex.”
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