Andy Roddick Shares What He Thinks Iga Swiatek Must Do to Improve Her Game for Grass Swing

Iga Swiatek is aiming to win her first title of the season at the Bad Homburg Open where she beat Victoria Azarenka in her opening round.

Andy Roddick Shares What He Thinks Iga Swiatek Must Do to Improve Her Game for Grass Swing

Iga Swiatek, Andy Roddick (Image via X/Wimbledon, Basket-Infos)

Iga Swiatek is in Bad Homburg, bidding to win her first grass-court title. Swiatek has not yet ended her title drought. Since beating Jasmine Paolini in last year’s French Open final, the Pole failed to progress to another summit clash.

This year, the five-time Grand Slam champion reached the quarterfinals (except for the Italian Open as she lost to Danielle Collins in the third round) of every tournament. Swiatek also played in multiple semifinals and was expected to win her first title of the season on the clay swing.

But even at the French Open, she failed to reach the championship match. As the four-time Roland Garros champion has started her campaign on grass, she received advice from former player Andy Roddick on what she should do to improve her game on the surface.

Specifically to Iga on grass, I’d like to see her take more balls in the backhand side and not try to do that little circle to hit the inside-out forehand as much.

Andy Roddick said on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast

At Wimbledon, Swiatek was the semifinalist in 2023, losing that match to Elina Svitolina. Last year, the 24-year-old was defeated in the third round by Yulia Putintseva.

I would tell her if I’m her coach: ‘The simplest adjustment we can make is let’s take a lot more backhands.’ If you’re just left of center or even if you’re in the middle of the court, the ball on our backhand will be way more effective on the grass getting through the court. I think she has to mix up her second serve.

Andy Roddick added

At the French Open, Swiatek was defeated in the last four by Aryna Sabalenka who later lost the title to Coco Gauff. Sabalenka ended Swiatek’s 26-match winning streak at the French Open as the Pole lifted the title three times on the trot from 2022 to 2024.

Iga Swiatek talks about the importance of practice before tournaments

Iga Swiatek defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg Open. She improved her head-to-head record over the two-time Grand Slam champion to 5-1, also winning her second match over the Belarusian this season following their encounter in the Dubai Open.

Iga Swiatek (4)
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

During the on-court interview then, Swiatek was asked whether she finds practicing boring. But Swiatek has fun on the practice courts as she loves learning new things.

You have freedom to do whatever you want. You don’t need to adjust to your opponent or anything. You just play the way you want to. I really enjoy the time on practice courts. So it wasn’t a problem for me, I gotta say. And honestly, it’s not often that we have time between tournaments to practice. I use every day to just become a better player.

Swiatek didn’t play in the Bad Homburg Open last year. She will next face Ekaterina Alexandrova or Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals.

Swiatek met the Greek ace seven times, winning four of those matches. Earlier this season in Doha, Swiatek defeated Sakkari to win her fourth consecutive match against her. Against Alexandrova, Swiatek holds a 3-2 head-to-head record but it’s the Russian ace who won their last encounter in last year’s Miami Open.

Sakkari, the two-time WTA titlist, hasn’t yet lifted a title since the 2023 Guadalajara Open. Alexandrova, on the other hand, is the winner of five singles titles and lifted this year’s Linz Open. She has two grass-court titles under her belt, both of them being the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships she won in 2022 and defended the following season.

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