ATP Champions Tour 2014
London, England
by David Law
|
06.12.2014
Andy Roddick advanced to the final at Royal Albert Hall on Saturday.
It's been a good week for Andy Roddick. The American returned to one of his favourite cities in the world for the first time since retirement, reached the final of the Statoil Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall, and according to Tim Henman, was made an honorary Wimbledon member by the All England Club.
Roddick defeated 2002 Wimbledon semi-finalist Xavier Malisse, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a final day clash with fellow debutant Fernando Gonzalez at the Royal Albert Hall. Gonzalez overcame Henman 6-4, 2-6, 10-6.
Afterwards, in an interview with the Tennis Podcast, Henman elaborated on Roddick's tale from yesterday's show about how they shared 'a spot of tea' together at Wimbledon on Thursday.
'I was able to take him to Wimbledon a couple of days ago because he's being made an honourary member, which he was so excited about, having been a three time finalist,' said Henman.
'If you win the tournament you become a member automatically but I think with his impact in that event and his rapport with the British crowd it was felt that it would be a really nice gesture. So Andy and his wife Brooklyn came and had tea with Phillip Brook, the Chairman, and his wife and myself, and he loved it. It's very rare to be made an honourary member when you haven't won the singles title there. I think Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde are the only ones I can think of, and they won the doubles 87 or so times. They're a rare breed, but in Roddick's case, it's thoroughly well deserved.'
Membership wasn't the only thing Roddick received.
'He was given a few gifts, one of them being a club tie, which is completely useless because he doesn't know how to tie a tie,' teased Henman.
Roddick owned a 10-3 FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over Gonzalez during their ATP World Tour careers.
The full order of play and results are available here: http://ift.tt/1Ilphux
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