Roddick calls for respect for Swiatek at the US Open

This year for Iga Swiatek has gone from bad to better, with a North American tour where she won the ATP Montreal and established herself as one of the favorites to win the US Open. However, Andy Roddick has been very critical of those who do not give her the credit she deserves despite what she has accomplished, as she has recently gone unnoticed unless she achieves an incredible result.

The former number 1 is one of those who believes that the Polish tennis player deserves more recognition. We must not forget that there was a time when Swiatek was the number 1 in the world and the clear dominator of the circuit. Now she is far from that level, although little by little she is regaining confidence in her game, and Roddick has been one of the first to want to talk about it in his podcast 'Served', where he has showered her with praise.

“I feel that, especially for the American audience, the only time we talk about Iga is when she’s in a final or when she loses, and that’s a shame! As I did with the long list of people, she has more Grand Slams than Sharapova, Clijsters, Davenport, and Jim Courier, is tied with Edberg, Becker, and is one behind McEnroe and Alcaraz, Venus Williams, Henin, or two behind Agassi and Lendl. We need to show her more respect; she has earned it,” he concluded.

Swiatek, unnoticed at the US Open

It is true that this US Open has other attractions that push Swiatek out of the equation. The battle for number 1 between Sabalenka and Rybakina, the possibility that Aryna could achieve her third consecutive US Open, Jessica Pegula in search of her first, Coco Gauff knocking on the door of another success in New York... However, Swiatek is still in the running, and Roddick does not forget about that. 

“She is playing wonderfully coming into this tournament. I understand that a large part of the conversation revolves around the four women competing for the number one world ranking, but that does not mean she isn’t still in the race. We are still playing for the US Open,” he concluded. A complaint that may make more sense as the tournament progresses if Iga continues to compete. For now, she will face Qinwen Zheng tomorrow in the round of 16, and if she wins, she would have an exciting matchup in the quarterfinals against Naomi Osaka or Elena Rybakina. Now is when we will see if she is truly capable of achieving her seventh Grand Slam more than a year after the sixth.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Roddick pide respeto para Swiatek en el US Open