Iga Swiatek's achievements over the last three years have impressed many onlookers, but Andy Roddick feels the WTA world number one does not always get the credit she deserves.
Swiatek lifted her fourth career Grand Slam and third Roland Garros title with a three-set final win against Karolina Muchova. In addition, the Polish player recently became the longest-serving world number one amongst active players as she held the top spot for 64 weeks.
Despite her long-term success at the age of 22, Roddick believes the end of the 'Big Three' era and Serena Williams' much-followed retirement have taken the shine off Swiatek's accolades. When speaking to MSNBC, Roddick sympathised with Swiatek as he believes her progress is being lost in the current context of tennis.
"She's phenomenal, won four Slams now. Kind of in the tornado of the Big-3 and Serena [Williams] retiring, this storyline is getting lost a little bit. She is you know three-time Roland Garros winner, won one US Open last year. Just history being made all the time,”
However, as time moves on from Williams' retirement in September 2022 and as the end of the Big Three could be imminent following Rafael Nadal's ongoing injury troubles, more attention could soon turn towards Swiatek's meteoric rise in the WTA.
So far in 2023, the 22-year-old has won three tour titles. She also lifted the Stuttgart Open title in April and won the Qatar Open in February as part of a successful first half of the season.
However, with the grass season now in full flow and with Wimbledon getting started on Monday, July 3, there is intrigue around Swiatek's ability to translate her success on to the lawn surface. In her career so far, the 22-year-old has never progressed past the fourth round at Wimbledon and the world number one was eliminated in the third round against Alize Cornet in 2022.
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