Should Grand Slam Runner-Ups Have to Speak? Andy Roddick on Ben Shelton & Wimbledon 2009 | Q&Andy

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Andy Roddick (1:05)

Hey, everyone. Welcome to Q&Andy. It's the show where I don't know what's coming, and apparently you all watch.

SPEAKER_4 (1:10)

Yes, apparently.

SPEAKER_2 (1:11)

Yeah.

SPEAKER_4 (1:11)

Thanks, everybody, for writing in. As a reminder, if you want to be featured in the show, send us a video, please. Send a video to askandyatservedpodcast.com or DM us. Send us in the comments. I don't know how all of it works. I'm a little bit like you, but the team knows where to get them. And they'll share them. And you know what? We have a video question to start. Yes, from somebody that's actually kind of famous.

Oh, yeah.

Charlie Kimble (1:34)

Hey Andy and Served team. My name is Charlie Kimble and I am the first licensed driver with type 1 diabetes to race in the Indianapolis 500 and the first driver with diabetes to ever win an Indy car race.

My wife and I are both avid tennis players. We met playing tennis together in high school. In fact, at the same high school where Mike and Bob Bryan played tennis here in Southern California. My question, having watched the US Open final and thought it was incredible to see Zverev win his second Grand Slam as somebody with type 1 diabetes was more about the moment with Ben Shelton giving a speech right after losing a final. I've been there in an Indy car race, you crash out, hopefully you come out of medical and they stick a microphone in your face and ask you what happened on maybe the worst day of your career. Even if you finish second, it may be your best day in tennis. What does that moment feel like for a player on the big stage?

Andy Roddick (2:33)

Charlie, awesome work in your sport. Fantastic. I've said this. I said this a bunch on air on ESPN during the US Open. I look at athletes performing with type 1 diabetes differently now that I kind of understand it through a personal lens. My father-in-law, Steve Decker, best person on earth. The maintenance it takes, not only from him when he's working and he drives all around the region, but with my mother-in-law Tessa and her monitoring his thing, it's unbelievable to layer that on top of trying to be the highest performance athlete that you can be. So props to you, man. Unbelievable.

It's very of winning again, unbelievable. And I'm actually happy you mentioned the post-match and we'll get to Ben and your original question, but I'm glad that Sasha took that moment because he's not one to say ever, like you'll never hear him lose and say, you know, my diabetes. He will never ever do it. Hasn't done it, won't do it. But I'm happy when he won that he chose to take that moment and draw back to his mother and kind of their journey and everything through it. So giving a speech in your worst moment. It's not easy. You know, the only time I've really, really, really, really struggled was 9 Wimbledon.

Like I knew if I broke that it was over, right? If I got emotional that I wasn't going to be able to get through it. And so you just kind of head down.

There's two things. It's impossibly difficult and you can focus on that part of it. And in that moment where people know that you are torn apart, if you are even just okay, you're going to get a lot of credit and change a lot of minds about you. I thought Ben Shelton in the speech he gave was maybe his best front facing moment that I've ever seen post US Open. I thought the things he said, I thought who he set him to, I thought the fact that both of the players went to the other teams.