The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that Andy Roddick, 18, of Boca Raton, Fla., has earned the title of ITF World Junior Champion for 2000. Roddick, along with the other 2000 ITF World Champions, will be presented his award at the ITF World Champions Dinner held in Paris during the French Open.
"When Tarik (Benhabilies, his coach) and I got together a year and a half ago, this was our goal for 2000," said Roddick, "to finish the year ranked No. 1. It’s a big honor. I enjoyed my junior career. I had fun and made a lot of friends. Now it’s time to step up."
By virtue of finishing No. 1 in the year-end ITF World Junior Tennis Rankings, Roddick became the first American to earn the world junior champion singles title since Brian Dunn in 1992. He captured four singles titles on the ITF World Junior Ranking circuit in 2000, including Grand Slam successes at the Australian Open and US Open championships, before leading the United States to victory at the Sunshine Cup, the junior equivalent to Davis Cup.
On the professional scene, Roddick finished the year ranked No. 152 in the ATP Entry System after reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Washington, D.C., this summer and a strong showing on the USTA Professional Circuit in the fall. He was also a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup team that defeated the Czech Republic in Los Angeles in April and played for the Idaho Sneakers of the DuPont World TEAMTENNIS Professional League.
The United States Tennis Association owns and stages the US Open and selects the teams that compete in Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and the Olympic Games. The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in America and is a non-profit organization with more than 600,000 members. It invests all its resources to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from the grass roots to the professional levels.
