Andy Roddick had a very amusing take on Iga Swiatek’s current dominance as he declared that she has started to enter the era of legends like Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova.
Aged just 22, Swiatek is already a four-time Grand Slam winner having won three titles at Roland Garros and one US Open trophy while she has also spent 95 weeks in total at No 1 in the WTA Rankings, which puts her in 10th place for most weeks at the top.
The Pole has won 19 WTA singles titles in total with her most recent triumph coming at the Indian Wells Open as won her second trophy at the WTA 1000 event after brushing aside Maria Sakkari in the final.
Up next is the Miami Open and the last time Swiatek won the Indian Wells trophy she went on to complete the Sunshine Double as she also claimed the Florida title in 2022.
On the ATP side, Carlos Alcaraz is also looking to complete the double after he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the men’s final at Indian Wells.
Former world No 1 Roddick was asked who has the best chance to complete the Sunshine Double feat and he told Tennis Channel: “Probably Iga at this point, she has just been more bankable over the course of her career.
“As good as we all know Iga is, her career at this point is almost undersold. Four Slams, eight Masters 1000s, 19 [title] wins. She is approaching the rare era of like Henin, Sharapova or Lindsay Davenport, and Kim Clisjters, she’s like right there and she is also 22 years old.
“She’s a bad woman man, she can play.”
Henin won seven Grand Slams and spent 117 weeks at No 1, Sharapova won five majors and was No 1 for 21 weeks, Clijsters is a four-time Slam winner with 20 weeks at No 1 while Davenport won three majors and spent 98 weeks at the top of the rankings.
Tennis analyst and former Olympic champion Monica Puig also praised Swiatek and believes the Pole will go down as one of the all-time greats if she continues at the current rate.
“The way that she hits the ball, the way that she is moving, she is just a force to be reckoned with and mentally she is so tough,” the Puerto Rican said.
“We have seen her in moments where she kind of looks like she is going to wobble, waver for a couple of minutes and then she kind of just gets back in her zone and finishes the job.
“She is definitely going to be adding her name to the mix as one of the greatest of all time if she continues like this because what she has been doing is incredible. I have been on the receiving end of Iga and it is not fun.”