HOUSTON (Reuters) - Andy Roddick savored the year-end No. 1 ranking over a fine meal at a Houston restaurant Wednesday evening and will now have until next year to sit back and digest what he has accomplished.
Andre Agassi, who beat Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in round-robin play at the ATP Masters Cup clinching year-end honors for Roddick while he dined, would no doubt tell the 21-year-old to dig in and enjoy it while he could.
Finishing the season with the No. 1 beside their names is one tennis's rarest feats -- an achievement Agassi only accomplished once in his remarkable career.
Roddick becomes the sixth American and just the 13th player in the history of the ATP rankings to finish the year at the top of the rankings, joining an illustrious list of names that includes Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras
Other prominent names include Boris Becker and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Like Agassi, Gustavo Kuerten, Jim Courier, Mats Wilander and Ilie Nastase's names appear only once while fiery Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who had held top spot the last two years could not even qualify for this season's finale.
"For him to dominate the hardcourt season the way he did is incredible." Agassi said "I did that in 1995 and it just took a lot out of me.
"He's proven himself to be No. 1 over the greatest players in the world. So he has a lot to feel proud about.
"It's an incredible accomplishment, especially the way he's done it. He's sort of done it by coming on late in the year.
"He got to the semi-finals of Australian Open but was going into the summer a lot closer to 20 in the world than No. 1."
Agassi was referring to the epic match Roddick played in the semi-finals of the Australian Open where he showed tremendous burst of energy to outlast Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 4-6, 21-19. That fifth set is the longest ever played in the history of the sport. It lasted 2 hours 23 minutes. The whole match ended just one minute shy of 5 hours.
The climb to the tennis summit capped a dizzying 10 months for Roddick, who began the campaign ranked 10th in the world with many questioning if he could ever fulfil the promise predicted for him.
Roddick answered those questions with a breakout season swooping six titles, including his first grand slam at U.S. Open and is in position to become the dominant force in the men's game with or without a victory at the Masters Cup.
"The year-end No. 1 if I had to choose," answered Roddick, when asked if it was more important to win the year-end event or claim the year-end ranking.
"It's extremely surreal. At the beginning of the year, I just wanted to make it here."
RODDICK MAKES MOST OUT OF MEDIA
USA Today - As opposed to the fierce passion he sometimes exhibits on the court, Andy Roddick has become an affable media star as he has ascended in the tennis world.
"I like to show fans a different side of myself," Roddick says. "I'm a different person on court - much more intense."
CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn was the first late-night talk show to invite a relatively unknown Roddick on as a guest in 2001. Host Kilborn made Roddick promise to come back when he became a big star.
Roddick didn't forget.
On the Monday after he won the U.S. Open, Roddick concluded a 12-hour New York media blitz (NBC's Today show, Regis and Kelly, MTV's Total Request Live, and the Late Show with David Letterman by taking a special on-air call from Kilborn in Los Angeles.
"Everyone on the show liked that," Kilborn says. Roddick is "the funniest, most clever guy on the tennis tour. He's more than a tennis player. He's a bright guy, charismatic, and apparently the ladies say he looks OK."
-- November 13, 2003