The legendary American tennis player Andy Roddick has disclosed that, since ending his professional career, he has battled multiple forms of skin cancer. The former world number one is now undergoing routine check-ups and encouraging everyone to apply sunscreen from an early age.
Days after turning 30, Roddick announced his retirement from professional tennis after competing in his final match at the 2012 US Open.
After noticing something in his lip a few years after retiring, Roddick had it removed when it was discovered to be cancerous. Roddick has since visited dermatologists regularly to keep an eye on his health.
Roddick revealed this in a recent podcast and said: “I’ve dealt with various types of skin cancer since I stopped playing. I had a squamous cell tumour taken out of my lip, probably five or six years ago, and I haven’t ever talked about it. This morning, we went into this face laser thing. That’s why for those of you watching on YouTube, it looks like I got into a fight.”
In delivering that lesson, Roddick made sure to emphasize how avoiding sun exposure early in life could come back to harm a person.
He added: “It stinks. I think I’m going to have a general kind of hatchet job for the rest of my life. I won’t go into the ‘who was me’ part of it because nothing is wrong, everything is good but use sunscreen. Put sunscreen on your kids, especially if they are tennis players. The problem won’t present itself when the kid is eight, but it might present itself when that kid is grown and is 38. Greener pastures are ahead. I’ve made it a habit to get checked time after time after time. At the moment, we are all good.”
