Andy Roddick Demands More Respect for Iga Swiatek After Latest Win at US Open: “She Has More Slams Than Maria Sharapova”

Iga Swiatek, it seems, has finally rediscovered her form. After struggling for months, she ended her title drought last month at the Canadian Open by defeating Elena Rybakina in straight sets.

Then at the Cincinnati Open, she reached the semifinal (lost to eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula). In the ongoing US Open, the Pole won her first three matches in straight sets. She overcame Marie Bouzkova 7-6(3), 7-6(3) and reached the fourth round of this tournament for the sixth consecutive time.

Following her match, Andy Roddick, on his Served podcast, said Swiatek deserves more respect from the American audience, highlighting the fact that she won more Grand Slam singles titles than greats of the game like Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, as well as former ATP player Jim Courier.

Iga, I feel like a lot of the time, especially for the American audience, the only time we talk about her is if she’s in a final or if she gets upset, and that sucks!

The 25-year-old clinched her sixth Grand Slam title last year by double-bageling Amanda Anisimova. But as she had been dealing with a slump in form earlier this season, the only time she made the quarterfinals of a Major was at the Australian Open. The former World No.1 suffered a fourth-round exit at the French Open, where she is a four-time champion. Her run at Wimbledon ended in the third round.

Like I went through the laundry list of people, she has more Slams than Sharapova, than Clijsters, than [Lindsay] Davenport, than Jim Courier, she’s equal with [Stefan] Edberg, [Boris] Becker, she’s one off of [John] McEnroe and Carlos [Alcaraz], Venus [Williams], [Justine] Henin, two off of [Andre] Agassi, [Ivan] Lendl. We need to pay her more respect, she’s earned it.

Andy Roddick added

At present, there’s a lot of conversation around who between Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Pegula will end the US Open ranked No.1. Everything depends on how Rybakina performs. If she reaches the semifinals, she will reach her career-best ranking of No.1.

Sabalenka will only be able to remain on top if she completes the three-peat and Rybakina loses before the semifinals. Gauff and Pegula will reach the top if they win the home Slam and Rybakina crashes out prior to the semifinals.

Iga Swiatek on winning tough matches in the early rounds of a Slam

Although Iga Swiatek cruised past her opponents in the first two rounds, she beat Marie Bouzkova by winning two tie-breaks (she won two tie-breaks in a single match for the first time in her career). The match did not end before two hours and 27 minutes. At the press conference after her win, Swiatek admitted that tough wins help her confidence.

Well, for sure, getting through these tough moments, it’s a nice, like, practice for the head a little bit. You know, you’re not going to get this kind of pressure on the practice. So, I’m happy that I went over them, and that gives you, like, an ability to maybe do that better next time, I guess. But honestly, every match is a different story. So, yeah.

She will next be up against a resurgent Qinwen Zheng, who upset 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys in three sets. The Chinese ace had to play the qualifiers as she currently stands at the 121st spot in the rankings.

Swiatek holds a 7-1 head-to-head lead over the 2024 Paris Olympics champion, also winning their last meeting in the quarterfinals of last year’s Indian Wells. The lone victory that Zheng registered was in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Also read: Coco Gauff Warns of Tennis Parity After Three American Exits at the US Open