By E.J. Crawford, USTA.com
Andy Roddick was the leading man in American tennis for more than a decade, winning the 2003 US Open, a Davis Cup title, 32 tour crowns and a legion of adoring fans who hung on his every quip and marveled at his supersonic serve.
On Tuesday, that all added up to one Hall of Fame career.
Prior to the night matches Tuesday at the Australian Open, the International Tennis Hall of Fame officially announced that Roddick would be inducted as part of its 2017 class, alongside fellow Americans Steve Flink, a heralded tennis journalist and historian, and Vic Braden, the renowned tennis instructor and innovator.
Rounding out the 2017 honorees are three-time US Open champion Kim Clijsters and four-time Dutch Paralympic medalist Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch. The group will be enshrined on July 22 in Newport, R.I., the home of the Hall of Fame, in conjunction with the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
“It’s really special,” Roddick said. “I love this sport and I love being part of it. I’m moved to know that my presence in the sport will be forever part of tennis history, and I am just incredibly honored to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. I look forward to the induction ceremony in Newport in July.”
The last American player inducted into the Hall of Fame was Andre Agassi, in 2011. Roddick assumed the mantle of the No. 1 U.S. man from the eight-time Grand Slam champion and thrived in the role. In addition to his 2003 US Open title, Roddick reached the 2006 US Open final and three Wimbledon finals – the last of which was an epic match won by Roddick’s longtime rival Roger Federer, 16-14 in the fifth set.
In addition, Roddick was the year-end No. 1 in 2003 and finished in the Top 10 each year from 2002 to 2010. He won the Emirates Airline US Open Series championship in 2005 and 2006, claimed five Masters 1000 crowns and ranks second on the all-time U.S. Davis Cup list with 33 singles victories (trailing only John McEnroe’s 41).
Flink is one of the foremost historians in tennis history in addition to being an award-winning journalist. He began his career in 1970s writing for World Tennis magazine, where he served as writer and editor until becoming a senior writer for Tennis Week in the early 1990s. In recent years he has served as an on-air contributor for ESPN, a tennis correspondent for CBS Radio, a frequent contributor to USOpen.org, a columnist for tennischannel.com and has authored books such as “The Greatest Tennis Matches of the 20th Century” and “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All-Time.”
“It has been my honor to transcribe to the world through my work the great moments and the remarkable personalities of tennis,” said Flink. “Across all these years, I never could have imagined that I would someday be recognized as a Hall of Famer and as a part of this sport’s history. I am so very humbled and honored to be recognized.”
Braden, who died in 2014, was one of the most distinguished tennis instructors in the world and a pioneer in the scientific studies of the physics of the sport. He also helped to develop some of the tennis’ most successful players, including two-time US Open champion Tracy Austin, and he trained the coaches of many of the modern game’s top pros.
In his storied career, Braden also co-founded of the Coto Sports Research Center and the Vic Braden Tennis Colleges, was a professor at UCLA and a contributor to many tennis publications, including Tennis magazine. He also produced a series of tennis training materials that influenced a generation of tennis teachers and reached thousands of recreational players.