Andy Roddick has asserted that Iga Swiatek is “1A and 1B as far as favourites go” for clay-court tournaments, including the 2024 French Open.
The 2003 US Open champion feels a player will need “to put together a massive clay-court season to even enter the conversation” with Swiatek on the surface.
Swiatek has won the French Open in three of the last four years, having claimed the first of her four Grand Slam titles at the 2020 edition of Roland Garros.
The world No 1 has won seven career titles on clay, with two victories at both the Italian Open and the Stuttgart Open to add to her French Open success.
The 22-year-old Pole has made a strong start to the 2024 season, having compiled a 22-3 record and claimed WTA 1000 titles in Doha and Indian Wells.
Roddick gave his thoughts on the leading WTA contenders heading into the clay-court season after Danielle Collins’ victory over Rybakina in the Miami Open final in the last big hard-court event.
“I was impressed with Rybakina’s performance in Miami. She’s usually one of those players that’s form-dependent: when she’s hot and playing well she wins tournaments, and when she’s not she loses early,” the American told Betway.
“But, having pulled out of Indian Wells with sickness and apparently not played tennis for eight days in between the two events, this time she was significantly undercooked and still found a way to work her way through to the final without playing her best stuff.
“We have a million miles between now and the French Open and it’s going to be based on form going in, but Iga Swiatek is 1A and 1B as far as favourites go on this surface.
“Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka are both players that can bother her with pace and speed, but someone is going to have to put together a massive clay-court season to even enter the conversation with Iga on clay.”
The former world No 1 also hailed the red-hot form of Collins, who won back-to-back titles in Miami and Charleston.
“Danielle Collins winning her first WTA 1000 title at Miami in her final year on tour was a great story,” Roddick continued.
“To put it into context, she was playing the fourth final of her career up against Elena Rybakina who was playing in her fourth of the year.
“I don’t know if there’s any mental clarity afforded from the fact that you’re not going to have to defend that title next year and this is all just icing on the cake, but it’s the freest I’ve seen her play.
“She lost the first set of her first match and then no one even got to a breaker. I love watching her because of her ability to emote.
“You can feel when she’s tense, you can feel when she’s excited and you can feel when she’s bothered, and that makes for great theatre on television.”
