"Can’t figure out why he won’t show up to debates" - Andy Roddick on Donald Trump's take on combating forest fires in California

Andy Roddick took a sarcastic dig at former US President Donald Trump over his take on tackling the wildfires in California.

In a recent media appearance, Trump discussed the wildfires that have ravaged California, with a total of 5,601 fires consuming 275,058 acres of land. He mentioned his conversation with a prominent Austrian official who attributed his country's lack of forest fires to their effective land management program.

"We’re sending billions of dollars to California for forest fires, their forests are burning down. I was with a gentleman, a very top person in Austria. He said, ‘Sir we have more flammable trees than you do on your coast. We don't have forest fires, we have land management. They take care of the land. They pick up the dead trees,'" he said.

"'You know, a tree doesn’t burn easily unless its dead. Then it gets dry and it burns. The leaves on the ground, they’re five feet thick over here. They clean the floor,'" he added.

Trump said that dampening the forest floor would aid in combating the wildfires.

"Everybody said, ‘How ridiculous,’ but they don’t have forest fires in properly run locations. What we have is horrible and we can actually dampen our forests with water that costs us nothing that will come pouring down from the north. Wouldn’t that be nice? If you had dampened floors, you wouldn’t have forest fires so we’ll work on that," he said.

He also said that he wasn't able to persuade the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, to support his plan.

"But I couldn’t convince this guy, Gavin, to do it because he’s an environmental maniac only for political reasons," he added.

Andy Roddick reacted to Donald Trump's speech on social media, sarcastically expressing confusion over why Trump avoided the primary debates for the 2024 US presidential election.

"I can't figure out why he won't show up to debates....," Andy Roddick commented.

"Andy Roddick's thirst for competition was like no other, when he lost he would keep bugging me" - Serena Williams' ex-coach Rick Macci

Andy Roddick

Earlier this month, Serena Williams' former coach, Rick Macci, discussed Andy Roddick's competitive spirit as an up-and-coming player, noting that the former World No. 1's drive to compete was unmatched.

"I did work a lot with Christian Ruud, Vincent Spadea, there's been other guys who didn't become top 10 in the world. But Roddick, his thirst for competition was like no other. The guy was so brutally competitive," Macci said on an episode of the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.

Macci also showered praise on Roddick's unique forehand technique, giving credit to the American for introducing concepts such as racquet placement, elbow elevation and a distinctive pull-and-flip motion.

"His forehand.. he kinda taught me about the racquet going on the outside, the elbow elevated, the pull, the flip, it was a little weird when I saw it work. Then he became biomechanically one of the best in tennis history," he said.