Iga Swiatek Strongly Defended From Critics After Australian Open By Former World No. 1
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Iga Swiatek missed an excellent opportunity to reach her second Grand Slam hard-court final at the Australian Open. Some fans criticized the Pole afterward, but Andy Roddick has defended her robustly.
Swiatek held a match point at 6-5, 40-30 on her serve in the third set against Madison Keys. However, the eventual champion saved it and went on to win the deciding 10-point tiebreak 10-8.
Although Keys had played good tennis in the previous rounds, Swiatek was a significant favorite to reach the final because her level in the opening five rounds was superb and the best of any WTA player.
The world No. 2's sole Grand Slam hard-court title and final was at the 2022 US Open. Her four other Major titles were on clay at the French Open, which has led to absurd claims from some online fans that she can only play on clay.
In an episode of Served With Andy Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion rubbished that idea. He is convinced Swiatek will win more Grand Slams outside the French Open and also said there is nothing wrong with being better on a particular surface.
"I don’t wanna hear your chirping about clay versus hard versus anything else. 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."
“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. Where does that leave her on the all-time count? Save it. Some people are better on different surfaces."
Roddick also praised the five-time Grand Slam champion for how she handled playing again after accepting a one-month suspension for accidentally taking a prohibited substance. The case is officially over after the World Anti-Doping Agency decided not to appeal it.
The former ATP world No. 1 thinks Swiatek not naturally wanting attention made that situation especially challenging for her, but lauded the 23-year-old for being able to refocus and deliver strong performances at the Australian Open.
"Props to Iga. We’ve been questioning how the contaminated substance, melatonin situation was gonna affect her coming in to Australia. 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."
Although the semifinal loss to Keys was heartbreaking, Swiatek's start to the season was significantly better than in 2024. That could give her momentum for the next few months.
