
Loading summary
Microsoft 365 Copilot Announcer
The world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create, and summarize so you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn more@Microsoft.com M365 copilot.
Quaker Oats Announcer
You know you need fiber for a healthy gut. But do you actually know how to get it? Quaker's been serving UP fiber since 1877 with over 100 great tasting, good source of fiber options to choose from. Whether you like old fashioned oats, instant oatmeal granola, or oatmeal squares, Quaker makes it delicious.
Andy Roddick
Mmm.
Mike Bryan
So good.
Quaker Oats Announcer
Get your fiber with Quaker Shop Quaker's good source of fiber products at a store near you.
Mike Bryan
All right, everyone, I am back. This is Q and Andy. Mike, you. You hosted a show.
Andy Roddick
We survived.
Mike Bryan
You. You got through, like. You got through, like, horrible 10 minutes. Look at you guys.
Andy Roddick
It was a solid 13 minutes.
Mike Bryan
Was it 13?
Andy Roddick
Yeah.
Mike Bryan
How'd you. How'd you. How'd you feel?
Andy Roddick
I don't know. I was just more nervous about mispronouncing names.
Mike Bryan
I. Oh, God. Welcome. Welcome to my life. No matter how you pronounce it. Yeah. There will be a comment 100% every single time. And that doesn't mean we got it right.
Andy Roddick
Yeah.
Mike Bryan
It just means that you. You've probably. I think I see comments, too.
Andy Roddick
They're like, it's producer Mike. I'm like, fuck,
Mike Bryan
yeah. You know my theory. I've said it before on this. As soon as I go to Paris and they say Roddick. Yeah. Then we're good.
Andy Roddick
Riddick sounds cooler than Radica.
Mike Bryan
Way cooler.
Andy Roddick
Way fucking cooler.
Mike Bryan
That's not the point.
Andy Roddick
Anyway, just a reminder, everybody.
Mike Bryan
Yeah, go ahead. Easy, Easy Segue. Go ahead.
Andy Roddick
You want to be featured in the show? Send your questions to ask andy@servpodcast.com or head to our website@servepodcast.com Andy. We had the team pull some questions that follow your path through tennis, the early days when things got serious, and all the things fans we're always curious about but don't usually get to hear.
Mike Bryan
Always curious about.
Andy Roddick
I don't know. That's what Ella wrote.
Mike Bryan
That sounds.
Andy Roddick
Good job, Alan. But before we dive into that, I do want to ask you about something topical. I want to know, what do you make of recent comments from a coach saying that Carlos Alcaraz is bored?
Mike Bryan
I Need more context.
Andy Roddick
Okay. All right. So a coach took to Instagram and he put out a video, and he said, my feeling is that Alcaraz is bored. This came after obviously losing to Seb Korda here at Miami Open. The Guy has already seven Grand Slams, and I feel like playing Masters 1000s. He won so many already. He's not that interested. That, that's really the feeling that I have going on. To say he doesn't play well because he's bored with an exclamation point. He has so much margin when the match is too easy, he's losing his focus because deep inside he knows he can break back anytime. So he's bored because he's too good.
Mike Bryan
So I don't, I don't want to know who said it just because I don't want to react to, I want to react to the content and not whoever, by the way. Also, I'm, I'm sure that there was no disrespect to Sebcorta with that, with that analysis.
Andy Roddick
None whatsoever.
Mike Bryan
Or any other player that ever meets Carlos Alcaraz. No. No disrespect, Medvedev.
Andy Roddick
None.
Mike Bryan
Yeah. Yeah. Because you're bored when you're playing a former number one in Grand Slam championship.
Andy Roddick
Yeah.
Mike Bryan
On a fast court, playing subcord. No disrespect to the field at all. That's something that you can't. I would say that's really hard. That's a really hard opinion to commit to, unless you actually know something. I kind of think it's borderline disrespectful to tennis Earth and players and someone who's nine in the world who beats Alcaraz or, I mean, if I'm Medvedev and I see that, I'm like, like I might get CTE from my eye roll. Like, honestly, like, it's. I don't know. I, I. Next question. That's. To me, that's, that's, that's ridiculous. And to me, that feels like, without knowing it feels like it's thirsty for clicks.
Andy Roddick
All right, so first question is from Will. Those first times you ever played, who was it with? Was it initially just a nice weekday escape from school? When did it start to turn more serious?
Mike Bryan
Well, I first started it was a club in Nebraska up the street before my family moved to Texas. That was more like babysitting. I remember throwing balls at a Snoopy cutout. I don't know that that counts. I had a brother that played and was a very good player. Good junior player, good college player, and So I would just hit on the backboard at Caswell Tennis center, like all day, every day. And then I started taking lessons from Steve Jones and I just lived at the public tennis center at Caswell. And so then two years later, like the nine year old version of myself would just stay there all day and play cash games.
Andy Roddick
Was that like in the summer, like, or after school?
Mike Bryan
She dropped me off at 8 in the morning and picked me up at 6pm and I was just on call. You'd get calls to the pro shop and you know some guy who is like a, you know, good club player. Be like, is Andy around? All right. And so the people would either like, if I went and hit with them for an hour, they would either tip me 10 bucks or we'd play like cash games.
Andy Roddick
That's cool.
Mike Bryan
And so my mom would give me, you know, explain a cash game. We would bet money on games.
Andy Roddick
How would it work? Would you like lay it down at the beginning? Would it be really hard?
Mike Bryan
No, I'm playing adults and college students. So at nine it was like. But yeah, I mean you had the same group of guys. But my goal was this is probably, I'm gonna get in trouble some way, shape or form for saying this, but your mom gives you food money. It's like, I'll see you later. And so I would just stay at the tennis center all day. But I knew that if I started the day with let's call it like 10 bucks, I'm like, my bets are covered. Yeah, like this. So any money won is plus 10. Yeah, right. And then you'd get people who would like, somehow, you know, I'll bring you a sandwich or something. Like it was, it was fantastic. But that's, that's kind of like where the, the hardcore turn took. Whereas like when you were nine years old. Yeah. I'd be playing cash games in the summer, then I'd go to like some like 10 and under tournament and I'd be like, this is easy.
Andy Roddick
What is this?
Mike Bryan
I just played a guy with a beard on Thursday.
Andy Roddick
What was the first legit check you got?
Mike Bryan
Check?
Andy Roddick
Yeah.
Mike Bryan
Oh, you don't get money for anything. Yeah, I mean it was probably. Oh, I remember exactly what it was I played. I was a wild card. I took a wild card into Delray beach and I knew that I was going to turn pro. So before nil, like once you accepted money past expenses. So the way that it works, if someone who's not a pro, who's an amateur, plays in a pro event, they can take enough Money to cover their expenses. So you're not out of pocket for, for playing it. But if you're not a professional and you take money past your expenses, that's considered professional. So then you give up your college eligibility. So you can't really be there at 16 and saying like, I won X amount. And so you'd have people like trading receipt stubs and like trying to. Because you had to like provide receipts for your expenses. So there was that whole game of trying to like max out expenses, um, which you, you could do. Yeah, not that I did, but other than this. This guy. I know this guy, you know, uh, I won 3200 bucks at Del Rey, the Tour event. I lost first round to Lawrence Thielman. And I did like, I put a sound system in my car like a fucking idiot. It was like two weeks later, JBLs. Oh yeah. Pull into the high school parking lot.
Andy Roddick
I'm like, with the removable faceplate so people wouldn't steal your radio as.
Mike Bryan
As JW would say, total douche canoe. Yeah, that was my first, we're talking. But then, then a month later I signed my first five year Reebok deal.
Andy Roddick
Oh, that's cool.
Mike Bryan
So that was a, that was a good one. There was no sound system that cost that much.
Andy Roddick
Next up is from Jordan. He said, how well did you sleep before big matches and how did sleep affect your performance? Any hacks you used for sleeping?
Mike Bryan
I slept pretty well. You know, I would use sleeping aids, like if I had to travel and sleep overnight. I was terrible at sleeping on planes. So yeah, I would, I would, I would use what I could. It was weird. If I was nervous about a match, I don't know that it really affected my sleep. I would have like random nights where like before a first round, you know, I. And I've said on this show before I was more nervous if I was like unprepared. Like going into Wimbledon in 08, I had a disaster result. But I was batting like a shoulder issue. I wasn't in great shape. I hadn't gotten any reps. So that caused me more stress than like, if I was actually prepared going in. So it wasn't about like the, the consequence of the magnitude of a given match. It was like where I thought I was as far as my game. And if I was stressed about that, then that normally manifested in not sleeping well. I remember one year, for whatever reason, it was like a total outlier. It was before I played Guillermo Correa and it was Wimbledon in 2005. And I knock on my coach's door, Dean Goldfine at 5am and he's like, what is happening? I go, I haven't slept all night. I was just up. I don't know what the deal was just. I mean, I'm sure everyone's gone through it, but I was. I forgot. I'll get the details wrong, but I think I was like second on. And so I go. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I'm going to adjust. I'm going to sleep as long as I can. And we're going to completely renegotiate our normal routine. Right. So if I was going on three, I was like, I'm going to hit balls for 15 minutes at 1 o', clock, but don't wake me at 8am, right. If I can catch a run of five or six hours. And so that's, that's like what we did.
Andy Roddick
That's crazy.
Mike Bryan
And so it's. It's certainly imperfect, but was able to get through that in three sets.
Andy Roddick
Would you, would you ever nap before? Like go out early and then nap before you guys would back time from when you're supposed to maybe be on?
Mike Bryan
I wasn't great at it. Yeah, I wasn't great.
Andy Roddick
Who was like a guy that you would just look over in the corner of the locker room, he'd have a towel over his head, just like out.
Mike Bryan
I felt like everyone was able to nap except for me, really. In Dubai one year, I went from Memphis. I use this example all the time, but I went from Memphis to Dubai, lost on a Friday night in Memphis, and then had to play, you know, Monday or Tuesday in Dubai. So by the time you land, it's two in the morning. I had to play like that night. And I remember Dougie Spreen, my old trainer. I was asleep on the floor underneath a table in the players lounge, like just out and he went like, kind of just kicked me. It was like, you gotta go, you're on. Yeah. I actually think I played Ferrero first round ended up winning that week. So maybe that was the more.
Andy Roddick
Maybe that was the secret.
Mike Bryan
Yeah. Beating it all in Djokovic back to back. Yeah, that was a good one.
Andy Roddick
There's the hack. Sleep under a table.
Mike Bryan
It's actually great if you don't get any sleep. That's the hack. Yeah.
Home Depot Announcer
Spring starts at the Home Depot and we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under $300. Like the next grill, four burner gas grill. That's perfect. Perfect for hosting your spring cookout. Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go to spot the patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the vibe. From the Home Depot. Start your spring with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. Exclusions applies to home depot.com pricematch for details.
Mike Bryan
So good, so good, so good.
Nordstrom Rack Announcer
Spring styles are at Nordstrom rack stores now and they're up to 60% off. Stock up and save on Rag and Bone, Madewell, Vince, All Saints and more of your favorites.
Mike Bryan
How did I not know Rags Jack has Adidas?
Nordstrom Rack Announcer
Why do we rack for the hottest deals? Just so many good brands. Join the NordicLub to unlock exclusive discounts. Shop new arrivals first and more. Plus buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.
Comcast NBC Universal Announcer
Nothing brings people together quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. From NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Xfinity and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with millions. When Team USA steps onto the world stage, people aren't just watching, they're cheering together. This winter, everyone is all on the same. Team Comcast, proud partner of Team usa, learned.
Mike Bryan
You're welcome.
Andy Roddick
Next up is from Juan. He said at the coin toss, serve
Mike Bryan
or receive and why 99% of the time I would serve, um, the only difference is if it was like a one o' clock match and if someone chose side, then I would, I would rather have my first service game not dealing with like looking directly into the sun. Like I remember Miami. It's probably not the case now because the stadium's different, but the old stadium at one o' clock like it was, you toss it up and you were in the sun, you can't see the ball.
Andy Roddick
I was in Key Biscayne.
Mike Bryan
Key Biscayne. So you would have to like low toss, side toss, you would have to kind of adjust it and then that affects the first ball too. So if you look up into the sun and you hit a serve and you come down, you're still like you're seeing sunspots. So the first ball is a little bit blurry also. So that was one factor. Most of the time I would always serve. I liked coming out of the gets hot. Unless I was playing like an Isner or a Carlovich or like one of these big body guys, one of these serve bots. I would hope that they would miss a couple first serves because they weren't quite warm. And I wasn't too worried about actually holding serve. Or I wasn't worried about holding one more time because if you receive, then obviously you have to hold one more time. Which against, you know, a Hewitt or a great returner mattered. So most of the time, serve some exceptions.
Andy Roddick
This is Tony's question that kind of stays in the serve realm. It says, are you left or right eye dominant? And then goes on to ask also during your serve motion, can you actually see the service box and. Or the opponent, or are you only focused on hitting the ball?
Mike Bryan
How do you know that?
Andy Roddick
I think you, like, close your eye and focus on something and if it
Mike Bryan
doesn't move, I'm left eye dominant then. Okay. Yeah. We should. We just do this for the rest of the.
Andy Roddick
Yeah.
Mike Bryan
Episode. Everyone at home, unless you're driving. Left eye dominant. I was too busy freaking out about the fact that I was going to get that wrong. What was the rest of the question?
Andy Roddick
During your serve, could you actually see the service box and. Or the opponent, or were you only focused on hitting the ball?
Mike Bryan
No, you can't look at the service box. You. You take a look before you serve.
Andy Roddick
Like right before you go.
Mike Bryan
No, no, no, no. I mean, the only person that I. I wonder if that's a realistic question, because he would kind of keep his eyes on you. He wasn't looking at you when he served. You can't. You can't do that. But he would keep his eyes on you a really long time. Was. Was fed. He kind of would side eye you and then. And then kind of flip and then find the ball. Correct. I was, I had you look at him. They'd have to give away their positioning because I served quick. Like, once I was ready to go, it was, it was off my racket. Sorry. It was off my racket. So it would. There weren't. It wasn't as if someone could be up in the box and then go 10ft back before I served. So I wasn't. Like, once they were positioned, they had to kind of almost stay there. There was no drift involved because my, my toss was so quick and short. So there wasn't really nothing was going to change, you know, so my focus was, was. Was on the serve only.
Andy Roddick
So you would kind of gauge them. And then as you went into your.
Mike Bryan
Exactly where you were, obviously you look up and you see if they're standing a foot to the left, a foot to the right if they're up, if they're back. But that's like a quick Glance you. You kind of do all that and decide if you're going to. You know, when you're walking over the server in between points, you know where you're going to serve. And then you get up there and take a look. And then if there's an audible, it happens quick, and you go. Because you don't want them to be able to adjust off of your audible.
Andy Roddick
Next up is from Herman. Sticking with the serve, was your serve more about mechanics, sequencing, or mindset? What did people misunderstand the most about it?
Mike Bryan
Mindset, I don't know. Mindset is kind of. From what you're able to do. Like, I go serve now, and I have the same mindset where I want to go through someone. I just can't go through someone, so it's like a problem. So I actually have to play. Like, I found myself. I played two days in Brazil this weekend, and even playing doubles, like, my serves just not the same. I don't serve at all anymore. So, like, I don't have the options. But I still. When I get up there, all I want to do is hit it through someone. Like, I still just want to hit aces, and I can't. And so now I'm like, I find myself, like, at the second day, I'm going, okay, well, maybe I just make the first serve here. And like, so mindset, I think, is directly dependent on. On what you're able to do. Like, my mindset was, like, my best chance to win this point is with my serve, right. Either directly or because of a foul ball return. So mindset, I think, depends on all the other stuff. For me, it was. It was how you get to the top part. As long as your elbow had space, as long as you were able to kind of get mobility with your trunk and able to launch with legs, then it was just a matter of being able to do it every time. Like, the same pacing, and you wanted to be able to have the same pacing and not have outlier movements to hit to different spots. The best servers of all time can hit all the spots without you knowing where they're going until the last possible second.
Andy Roddick
So it's kind of a mixture of all three, right? It's like, it's like knowing the mechanics that work best for you and then having the sequence to get those mechanics to work. And then that dictationary mindset, I will
Mike Bryan
say, like, to any coaches listening or any players listening, like, the thing that drives me crazy, serving is the most personal shot, I think, right? Not everyone serves the same. You Know someone steps up, someone is back. It's more about feeling. Even when I work with pro players, I'll suggest something and I go, but you have to be so honest with how you feel because a, a player will know. Like, there's, I, I. That does not work for me. I can't have someone who's been bringing their foot up platform and they're like, this is, that's the wor. And then if you make a suggestion like, okay, that wasn't, that wasn't terrible. It's like, okay, well, let's follow that path. Right? It's not just because I serve. I coach serving this way because I did it this way. You constantly have to ask someone when you're working on serving, how did that feel? Does it feel repeatable? Is that an adjustment that feels like it's muscle memory? Or is it, you know, like all of a sudden I made you play left handed, like some sort of the ball. I teach this way. Like, not with serving, you don't. Everyone serves differently.
Andy Roddick
What changed from like your early 20s to when you were kind of battling shoulder injuries, what changed about that mechanics and sequencing?
Mike Bryan
Nothing really did. It just didn't come off as, as, as hot. You know, it was muted by, by 10%. You know, the shoulder issues hurt more on the forehand than they did on the serve, but there were less days. Like, during my prime serving, I knew I could hit at 140 anytime I wanted to. Yeah, any day I'd wake up, I could roll out of bed and hit at 140, like cold, no problem. And also like the kick would jump out. And there were some times with the shoulder where the further I went in an event, the more muted my serve got because there was like shoulder fatigue because of an injury. And so by the time I needed it the most, it was, it was a little bit more muted and like 10, you know, 5 or 10% against, you know, someone 150 in the world, I could manage through that pretty easily. 5 or 10% against the best returners on earth was, was, was apparent.
Andy Roddick
Well, we'll close it out with somebody that won't have shoulder issues ever. It's a video that our buddy Durham, Dr. Durham, sent to us.
Mike Bryan
Mr. Weeks.
Andy Roddick
It's a video of some robot tennis players. Sean, can you punch that up? This little robot is literally getting over and hitting forehand.
Mike Bryan
This is like a robot playing. Is that real?
Andy Roddick
It looks. Yeah, it's real. It looks tiny.
Mike Bryan
Take the robot out.
Andy Roddick
Look at this. Look at it move. All right, so my Question off. My question off of this, though, is if this technology gets better, at what. At what point will you be able to load in the data of a player you're going to play and get real looks?
Mike Bryan
Well, they have ball machine. They had ball machines like that.
Andy Roddick
They have ball machines.
Mike Bryan
Ball machines. Gosh, this. I'm dating myself now, but like 30 plus years ago.
Andy Roddick
Yeah.
Mike Bryan
That you could mess with a spin. Oh, wow. Like, you could. You could mess with the loft in the spin. So, yeah, that's. That's insane. But I was also thinking, like, my mind went straight to when I lived in Austin, Texas, and I was like, a really good player. You'd hit the college guys or you'd have to like, fly someone in. I'm like, as this gets better, do players just buy robots for training?
Andy Roddick
That's what I'm saying.
Mike Bryan
That's what I'm saying.
Andy Roddick
Like, load whatever data you want.
Mike Bryan
Worthwhile. But by the way, that guy playing the robot was being a little bitch. Like, he. Like that robot. That was like the easiest. Like, that robot didn't have much game. I'm sure they will in the future. Yeah, but no offense to robots. I don't know, this guy said something about your bitch at one time. Like, I just know. No offense to robots.
Andy Roddick
Maybe they link them up with service now.
Mike Bryan
Yeah, there you go. But I'll tell you, like, I don't know. So sometimes since I'm like, there's a very distinct gap sometimes because I'm not on social media, I don't look at it. I don't. I've been off of it for a while. That, like, something will happen and I'll just be like, randomly out and about, like at Starbucks. So I heard twice last week, people be like, oh, man, robots playing tennis. And I'm like, what? You know the scene in Dumb and Dumber where he's leaving the convenience store and he goes, well, Big Gulp. So, yep, well, see you later. Like, I had no idea what they're talking about, but it's like a regular occurrence that I just attribute to not being on anything. And then I get a video like this. I'm like, oh, that's what they were talking about with the robot tennis.
Andy Roddick
That's what they're talking about.
Mike Bryan
Full circle moment. Thank you.
Andy Roddick
That's it. That's all we got this week. Thank you to everybody for sending in what they had. Send it into askandyrdpodcast.com.
Mike Bryan
try again. You can do it.
Andy Roddick
All right, everybody, that's it for this week. Thank you. Everybody for sending everything in reminder. Send it in to ask andyrvpodcast.com or go to servepodcast.com and you can find a link there. Send us your videos. That's what we want.
Mike Bryan
Look at this host. Look at this host. We'll see you next week.
Andy Roddick
Try it again.
Monster Energy Announcer
Monster Energy Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra, that's the og. It kicked off this whole zero sugar energy drink thing, but Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise and Vice Guava and they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the White can branch out. Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe and every single one is Zero Sugar. Tap the banner to learn more.
Andy Roddick
No time for full TV shows. TikTok has endless short dramas you can watch anytime. Fast paced, easy to follow and hard to stop. Download TikTok now and start watching.
Podcast: Served with Andy Roddick
Host: Andy Roddick (interviewed by Mike Bryan)
Date: March 26, 2026
Episode Theme:
A candid, behind-the-scenes Q&A focusing on Andy Roddick’s path to World No. 1, covering his early tennis experiences, serve mechanics, performance routines, sleep hacks, and how technology may reshape tennis preparation.
[01:05–02:22]
[02:22–04:16]
[04:16–06:15]
[06:16–07:55]
[07:55–10:35]
[12:08–13:21]
[13:21–14:51]
[15:17–17:48]
[17:48–18:37]
[18:37–20:46]
On Adult Critique and Pronunciation:
“No matter how you pronounce it, there will be a comment every single time. And that doesn’t mean we got it right.” —Andy Roddick [01:23]
On Alcaraz “Boredom” Theory:
“That’s a really hard opinion to commit to unless you actually know something…borderline disrespectful to tennis earth and players…” —Mike Bryan [03:28]
On Early Ambition:
“My mom would give me food money. I’d be like, see you later. I would just stay at the tennis center all day.” —Andy Roddick [05:16]
On Serve Evolution and Aging:
“During my prime, I knew I could hit at 140 anytime I wanted…with the shoulder fatigue by the time I needed it most, it was a little bit more muted.” —Andy Roddick [17:55]
On Adapting Serve Advice:
“When I work with pro players, I’ll suggest something and I go, but you have to be honest with how you feel…it’s not just because I coach it this way.” —Andy Roddick [16:48]
On Tennis Robots:
“That robot didn’t have much game. I’m sure they will in the future. No offense to robots.” —Mike Bryan [19:49]
“Sometimes…something will happen and I’ll just be at Starbucks, people be like, ‘robots playing tennis’…I had no idea what they’re talking about.” —Andy Roddick [20:06]
| Topic | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------|------------| | Andy & Mike on names/pronunciation | 01:05–02:22| | Alcaraz “bored” hot take | 02:22–04:16| | Roddick’s early tennis & cash games | 04:16–06:15| | First legit tennis check memories | 06:16–07:55| | Pre-match sleep & routines | 07:55–10:35| | Serve vs. receive coin toss routines | 12:08–13:21| | Serve: Mechanics, mindset, injuries | 15:17–18:37| | Tennis robots & practice technology | 18:37–20:46|
This episode delivers a vivid snapshot of Andy Roddick’s tennis journey—his formative years, his professional turning point, the reality of elite performance prep, and the art and science of his legendary serve. Mixed with listener questions and topical tennis debates, the episode balances insight with the awkward, funny, and very real moments that define life on and off the tour.
For more listener Q&As or to submit your own, head to servepodcast.com.