Former world No. 1 and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick will make his PowerShares Series debut on February 13.  Roddick plans to compete in tournaments at Birmingham, Alabama that day, at Denver on February 19, and at Houston on February 20.  A month before those events, he spoke with the media about his participation in the PowerShares Series (www. PowerSharesSeries.com) and the ongoing Australian Open. 

Roddick’s keen sense of tennis history and admiration for past greats has spurred his enthusiasm for playing in the PowerShares Series.  “It's certainly a big list of names and personalities,” he observed. “It's almost as if every night it's almost a history lesson of the last 30 years of tennis.  It's really cool. I was a tennis fan long before I was a player, and so it's surreal for me to be involved with these guys. I don't think I've ever fully gotten used to, let's say, participating in the same night as a Pete Sampras or a Jim Courier.  Those guys were my heroes growing up. But it's always fun to get together with those guys again and be around them and to play against them. It's always been a blast for me.”

Tennis has been defined by rivalries among such legends at the pinnacle of the sport.  The epic rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is commonly considered the best in the sport’s history, but Roddick is not quite ready to give it that label. 

“It's tough going generation versus generation,” he said. “In my era, it all happened around Roger and Rafa. They’re different enough personalities to make it interesting. Stylistically they matched up in an entertaining way, and they both went about it the right way and had a certain level of respect, which is probably different than the ones you saw in the '80s with McEnroe and Connors where they just flat out didn't like each other. There are different ways to have a great rivalry.”

Always a fierce competitor on the ATP World Tour, Roddick admitted that he may struggle to contain those instincts in a more relaxed setting.  “I think when you get guys who are programmed from when they're young to have a goal of trying to win something, I don't think that goes away easily, and I'm sure when we get between the lines… listen, if there's an option of winning and losing, you want to win. That's just human nature,” said Roddick.

Birmingham, his first PowerShares stop, brings back fond memories for the former No. 1, who once played a Davis Cup tie there against Switzerland.  “I'm excited,” he declared. “We had a great Davis Cup tie back there in 2009, and we enjoyed everything about it. It was one of those rare Davis Cup ties where everything went mostly according to script.  We got out with a W. I played a good match the last day against Wawrinka. The court was fast; the crowd was into it.  We were able to lean on him. I enjoyed playing there. I'm sure it'll bring back some good memories when I'm back.”

A dedicated competitor in Davis Cup, Roddick exuded confidence in the leadership of current Davis Cup captain Jim Courier. “I see Jim being the captain for a very long time,” he said. “I think he does a great job.  All the guys love him. I was able to play for him for a couple of ties, [and] Jim is a great friend of mine. Honestly that's something I hadn't really thought about much.

The former US Open champion, who also reached three Wimbledon finals, is also looking forward to returning to Houston, where he won an ATP title and clinched the year-end No. 1 at the Tennis Masters Cup in 2003.  “I feel there's so much in the early part of my career over at Westside, from the tournament to Masters Cup to when we played a Davis Cup tie there,” recalled Roddick. “I played there at the same club clay, hard and grass, which doesn't happen very often. But just a lot of good memories, and it's always a place that I certainly enjoy playing. It's a short drive to my home in Austin, too, which is a great thing, and I'm looking forward to it.”

Having gained some distance from his retirement at the 2012 US Open, Roddick feels confident that he made the right decision.  But he also knows that he can still produce impressive tennis, as an exhibition against Andy Murray in Miami over the off-season showed.

“I won two out of my last five events on tour,” Roddick reminded. “When I do practice with guys who are currently playing, I can hold my own. There are guys I played against my whole career who are still around, a lot of them. For me, it wasn't a matter of whether I could still be good on tour. The question was whether I can win a Grand Slam, and once I didn't think I could, that was enough for me. I certainly feel like I'm capable of playing a high level of tennis still.”

Despite his retirement, Roddick continues to follow ongoing developments in professional tennis with keen interest.  He shared his thoughts on the extreme heat this week at the Australian Open, where he reached multiple semifinals during his career. 

“Part of me finds it entertaining that every time we go down to Australia we act surprised that it's hot outside,” observed Roddick. “It's funny, the guys who have the reputation for being prepared aren't the guys keeling over. You're never going to see Roger outwardly showing heat. You're not going to see Rafa doing it. You're not going to see Novak anymore doing it. Frankly I hated it when they closed the roof. I felt like I was prepared. I felt like it was a different tennis tournament once they put it indoors. Do we need to make extreme [decisions] because guys are struggling in the heat?  I don't know.  Personally I don't think so. I think as athletes we push our bodies to do things that aren't normal, and frankly that's what we get paid for. When you play there, it's brutal. It feels like you're playing in a hairdryer, but that's all part of it. Each Slam presents its own unique set of challenges and you have to attack it accordingly.”

How did Roddick attack these unique challenges during his career?  Carefully, but with a sense of perspective. 

“I spent four weeks doing fitness in Austin, and then when I started really hitting balls, I put myself in heat for two weeks before I even went down to play the first event there,” he explained. “By the time we got to Australia, I had been in similar heat for three or four weeks. It’s stupid to train indoors in cold weather the whole time and then expect to go to Australia and not to have your your body is not going to adapt that quick. But it will adapt.”

“And frankly I don't know that Australia is as extreme as Florida in the summer or the hottest days in Cincinnati in the summer,” continued Roddick. “I think you're seeing guys play three out of five, and it's become a more physical game, so you're kind of seeing the toll of that. But you're not going to take the Slam out of Australia. It's too good of a venue. There is thought put into it. They've set the precedent for being smart about it, and they have done it in the past. I don't think they should just close the roofs because people are writing about it.”

As closely as Roddick follows tennis, another sport has grasped his attention for the upcoming weekend.  The AFC Championship Game in Denver will pit two of the NFL’s most accomplished quarterbacks against each other in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.  Roddick is excited to watch this latest edition of football’s answer to Federer and Nadal a few weeks before he travels to Denver for a PowerShares Series event.

“I think Manning and Brady kind of have all the makings of a great rivalry,” he asserted. “They're so similar in so many ways as far as their preparation and kind of their will to win, and like any great rivalry, I think it needs to happen over time so we can get a little nostalgic about it. But at the same time there are distinct differences. Peyton can be self-deprecating on Saturday Night Live, and Brady is this unbelievably good-looking guy married to Giselle that has all the cool stuff in press conferences.  So there is enough difference to make it very interesting. It's just fun.  It also is getting to the point where you don't know how many more times you're going to see it, so you start reflecting and appreciating it each time.”

While Roddick never contemplated a football career, he recalls an NFL star who once showcased his talents in tennis.  New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees played Roddick twice before deciding to pursue fame and fortune in another sport.

“Every time he plays a playoff game on national television, this story comes up again,” laughed Roddick. “He actually beat me the first two times.  I think he was 12 and I was 9, and he was like an after-school tennis player who was better than all the guys who actually practiced like me, and then I beat him and he started playing other sports.  So who knows how far it could have gone. But I think it just kind of lends itself to discussion of what a good athlete he actually is.”

Those words are high praise, coming from one of the greatest American athletes of his generation.  Fans should count themselves fortunate to see Andy Roddick take the court again in February.