Andy Roddick has been left stunned by the sheer dominance of one WTA star over the past few years.
Speaking on the latest iteration of his podcast, the 41-year-old touched on everything from Rafael Nadal’s next steps to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud’s clay-court excellence.
However, when speaking about the surface, he could not resist waxing lyrical about Iga Swiatek.
Andy Roddick left stunned by Iga Swiatek
Speaking on his appropriately named Served by Andy Roddick podcast, Roddick was once again full of praise for Swiatek.
And that was even following her defeat at the hands of Elena Rybakina, who went on to lift the trophy in Stuttgart last week.
In fact, the former American and world number one issued a glowing statement, suggesting that there are few as dominant as the four-time Grand Slam champion.
He noted: ‘What I also want to talk about. I don’t want to read too much into one result in a waterfall of an entire season, but anyone beating Iga Swiatek on clay is a big deal because she just doesn’t lose on clay that often.
‘Her on that surface is the most dominant thing in women’s tennis as far as player, surface, match-up, the whole thing.
‘Rybakina, now has a 4-2 record against Swiatek, beats her on clay in Stuttgart. Is this a real conversation piece?.’
Iga Swiatek is far from invincible
Although Roddick seems to suggest that she might be somewhat invincible, already we have seen some cracks in the Polish winning machine this year that suggest she will not dominate.
After all, her early exit from the Australian Open was a shock to many, and left the door wide open for Aryna Sabalenka to cruise to just her second Grand Slam title.
Another defeat at the Miami Open came as a shock to many too, as did her semi-final departure in Dubai.
It is worth remembering, though, that whilst the 22-year-old is by far the best player in women’s tennis at the moment, she is no Serena Williams. Nor is she akin to Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer.
It feels like, as Roddick actually touches on in the podcast, that this generation of tennis has been brought up on seeing select stars win everything every single week.
Now, as we exit that era, normalcy is returning.
So, for the world number one not to win every single competition she enters should not be laughed at. Instead, we need time to simply adjust to a lower standard than the ones set by some of the greatest sportsmen and women to have ever lived.
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