Andy Roddick ‘by no means went again’ to Russia after being allegedly robbed by police

Former US tennis star Andy Roddick detailed the surprising second he was allegedly robbed by a supposed police officer whereas taking part in in Russia on the 2006 Davis Cup – earlier than deleting the declare on social media. Roddick, 41, the 2003 US Open champion, was teaming up with James Blake, Bob Bryan, and Mike Bryan to symbolize the USA on the prestigious workforce occasion and the workforce secured a 4-1 win over Romania to advance to the quarter-finals.

A 3-2 win over Chile then arrange a semifinal date with house nation Russia, nonetheless, that is the place their run got here to an finish, being defeated 3-2. The defeat to Russia wasn’t the one disappointing occasion in Moscow, although. Roddick was robbed by an alleged police officer, who instructed him at hand over money or go to jail.

“I acquired robbed by a police officer on the road in Russia in 2006 after we had been there for Davis Cup,” Roddick stated on X. “True story. Came up and said how much cash do you have? I said $300… he simply said give it to me or go to jail. I paid it and he went on his way. No emotion. Transactional. Let’s not get to that level of normalizing crazy s***. It ain’t it. Never went back.”

When pressed on why he did not go public with this story on the time, Roddick stated the unpredictable nature noticed him resolve to not make a “stink”. He added: “I wanted to do my job and get out of there safely. At that time, I didn’t wanna make a stink incase it was just a bad actor. Looking back, I now understand the surrounding factors.”

Yet Roddick has now deleted his declare on social media.

Roddick’s motive behind revealing his unhealthy expertise in Russia is unknown. But the ex-tennis star has been vocal on social media in current days surrounding the dying of Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s most formidable home rival. Navalny died in jail, falling unconscious after a stroll, nonetheless, doubt has been solid over the taking place of the occasions. Roddick has retweeted a collection of posts on X surrounding the passing of Navalny.

Roddick retired from singles motion in 2012 and doubles in 2015. He was the world No. 1 in 2003, the 12 months he gained the US Open. He reached the Wimbledon singles ultimate 3 times and the Australian Open semifinals 4 occasions.

Roddick remains to be very a lot energetic in tennis as a pundit and commentator. He’s not shy to criticise right this moment’s era of tennis stars both, together with Spanish sensation, Carlos Alcaraz. Roddick hit out on the regression of Alcaraz’s pace of serve.

“I think his serve leaves a lot to be desired. That is the one thing that I don’t think has really improved much at all in the last two years,” he said. “I remember watching him, kinda his breakout – we knew about him – but winning Miami a couple of years ago and he was serving 135, and now I feel like he’s serving 127.”