Andy Roddick believes that certain players carry a certain aura of intimidation, and he named Iga Swiatek as someone who has that.
The Polish player is currently world number one on the WTA Tour, and she recently added yet another trophy to the Indian Wells Open. She dominates many players when she plays them, and bagels are not strange to her.
In that sense, she's quite intimidating to play against, and Roddick certainly believes that she's building an aura much like Novak Djokovic. The Serbian has been the dominant force in tennis for over a decade.
Many players lose before playing a point against him, and Roddick thinks it matters. He's played against some of the best players ever, and he could notice during his playing days.
"I think aura is this catch-all word which, in fact, we're talking about accomplishment. The more accomplishments Iga Swiatek has, the more intimidating it is to play her. Not because she walks in the locker room and everyone moves out of the way to create a line."
"Everyone goes about their business, when you're on the court, you're confronted with what they're presenting as a player and that is the intimidating thing."
Roddick further expanded on the concept poking fun at what people generally mean with aura. To him, it's not something that hovers around a person but more the fact that the player forces people to adjust to them, especially in tennis.
When playing Swiatek or Djokovic, players have to adjust, and that's a minus immediately because not many players can do that confidently.
"So aura is not a halo around someone's head. The aura comes with knowing that you have to change your style of play, and that is intimidating in its own way. It's the adjustments that you have to make."
"And then the eventual exhaustion if that doesn't work and you're down 6-2, 2-0. Because your best chance at winning... you're upping risk profile, and therefore, if it doesn't work out, you look like an idiot."