At 32, Roddick does seem a little young to be competing on the veterans’ tour. His former nemesis, Roger Federer, remains the No 2 player in the ATP rankings despite being a year older. Yet Federer is an anomaly in almost every way, apparently fashioned from different stuff to the rest of us, whereas Roddick – for all his talent – is only mortal. Towards the end of his career, he was so plagued by knee, shoulder and hamstring injuries that he did well to battle his way to his 30th birthday before making his big announcement at Flushing Meadows in 2012.