Andy Roddick has been previewing the French Open, despite the tournament not being due to start for some time.
And when focusing on the women’s side of the draw, he admitted that there are not many outstanding candidates to potentially claim the title other than last year’s winner.
Iga Świątek is unsurprisingly the heavy favourite to enjoy a third-straight title at Roland Garros, having dominated on this surface for some time now.
However, seeking to differentiate from the obvious pick, Roddick strayed elsewhere.
Andy Roddick backs Elena Rybakina for Roland Garros success
Despite Roland Garros being around a month away now, excitement is already building for the second Grand Slam of the season.
And understandably so, especially with Rafael Nadal’s recent return to form and fitness.
Naturally, the re-emergence of the King of Clay has provoked excitement for the men’s draw, whilst the women’s side has far less intrigue given the aforementioned clay-court dominance of Swiatek.
Well, Tennis Channel actually sought to lay out a draft format as they picked their winners for the tournament, and with the Polish superstar naturally taken first, Roddick was forced to go with more of an outsider.
However, there is absolutely every chance that Elena Rybakina could strike gold in Paris, as the former USA tennis player noted: ‘I’ll tell you this much, I would have much rather had the number one pick on the women’s side than the men’s side. Like, I picked Sinner and she still had Alcaraz, Novak, she had like… I would have taken any of three. But here we are.
‘I think I take Rybakina only because she doesn’t dislike the matchup against Iga as much as everyone else. Played well against her at Rome last year, beat her a couple of weeks ago in Stuttgart, I think I take Rybakina just based on recent form and that specific match-up with Iga.’
Elena Rybakina can trouble Iga Swiatek
We already know the trouble that Rybakina can cause Swiatek, even on clay, as Roddick outlined.
After all, the 24-year-old brushed aside the former in Stuttgart, deservedly defeating the youngster in the semi-finals before easing to the title.
And this was just one of the six times the two have met, with the Kazakhstani actually boasting a positive record of four wins and just two losses.
Harking back to Rome as well, another clay tournament, and although the 22-year-old had to retire mid-way through, it had been a tightly-contested affair up until that point.
There is every chance that Rybakina could upset Swiatek, but it will take something special to usurp her from that throne, on which she has been anointed three times now.
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