Former world No 1 Andy Roddick has predicted how many Grand Slam titles Iga Swiatek will win in her career as he assessed the Pole’s performance at the Australian Open.
Swiatek lost 7-5, 1-6, 6-7(8) to eventual champion Madison Keys in a thrilling Australian Open semi-final.
The world No 2 was unable to convert a match point when she served for the match at 6-5 in the third set before she narrowly lost the decisive 10-point tiebreak.
The 23-year-old was seeking her maiden Australian Open title and fifth Grand Slam crown overall.
Swiatek did not drop a set and lost only 14 games across her first five matches in a dominant run to the last four in Melbourne.
Speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Roddick praised the way Swiatek played in Australia in the aftermath of her failed doping test.
“Props to Iga. We’ve been questioning how the contaminated substance, melatonin situation was gonna affect her coming in to Australia,” the American said.
“She is someone that is not thirsty for attention, I think the last thing she wants is some kind of negative spotlight keeping her name out there. Not like [Jannik] Sinner, where everything feels very calm — I relate to watching Iga a little bit more, because I was a little more frantic, I was a little more fidgety.
“Her intensity point to point is Rafa [Nadal]-like. She emotes more than Rafa, which makes us view her as — Rafa doesn’t give you anything when he’s losing points, Iga will look at the box, maybe look a little more panicked sometimes, but she’s right back.
“As far as point to point and refocusing and resetting, it’s not hard to see that Rafa was her idol. She mimics that. Her intensity never falters.
Now, does she have an issue when someone goes with massive pace on fast surfaces to the forehand side, because she has a pretty extreme grip? Yes.”
The 2003 US Open winner also hit out at anyone questioning Swiatek’s credentials on hard courts.
“I don’t wanna hear your chirping about clay versus hard versus anything else,” Roddick added. “Iga is gonna win a handful of Grand Slams on surfaces that aren’t clay. She just will, she’s 23.
Oh, by the way, while she’s trying to figure that out, she’s gonna win like five French Opens. So save it, everyone’s better on one surface. It doesn’t mean that the Grand Slams count any less. So save that s**t. You can have that.
“She almost did it, I thought for the entire match, I felt like she was gonna find a way to win, because she has. She’s proven in these scenarios. Hasn’t lost in a Grand Slam final ever — 5-0. She knows how to play these matches.
“And save it, just because she’s not as good on a hard court as she is on a clay court, doesn’t mean she isn’t good on hard courts.
“One point away from being in the (Australian Open) final with a real shot. I don’t know, maybe [Aryna] Sabalenka is a slight favourite in that one if she gets through, but she (Swiatek) is gonna win nine French Opens and she is gonna win three or four other majors.
“Where does that leave her on the all-time count? Save it. Some people are better on different surfaces.”
