Andy Roddick on Federer's 2006 season: "He was a downhill snowball"

Roger Federer had plenty of unfathomably good seasons, but maybe none as impressive as his 2006 masterpiece. The Swiss amassed a 92-5 record while winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon, the US Open, and the ATP Finals. His only major loss was a four-set defeat to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. In fact, Federer only lost to two players the entire year, four times to Nadal, and once to Andy Murray.

Few players have experienced the helplessness of playing against peak Federer more than Andy Roddick. Their primes were almost perfectly intertwined. It’s no secret that Federer’s brilliance cost the American a few Grand Slams, so it was only fitting that on Wednesday’s edition of Tennis Channel Live, Tracy Austin asked Roddick “How good was Roger in 2006?”

“That’s probably his height,” Roddick said, “I think simultaneously he was the best defender and aggressor at the same time.”

Roddick was playing some of the best tennis of his career in 2006. He was riding a wave of confidence after winning Cincinnati and had lost just three sets en route to the US Open final. But Federer was king of New York at the time, and brushed aside Roddick in four sets to win his third of five consecutive crowns at Flushing Meadows.

“He’s one of the best frontrunners of all time,” Roddick added, “I was actually playing really well in the 2006 US Open final but all of a sudden after 15 minutes I was down a break and you just know he’s a downhill snowball.”

Roddick challenged the crew of Brett Haber, Jimmy Arias, and Tracy Austin to think of a player who could defend and attack better than Federer at the same time. No other player came to mind.