feature-image

Imago

feature-image

Imago

Iga Swiatek, “one of the best front runners of all time similar to uh Roger,” is on a roll at the ongoing French Open! The Polish tennis star has dominated her opponents, giving them hardly any breathing space. While she overcame the threat of Naomi Osaka in the second round, Swiatek has drawn a comparison to Roger Federer, giving a glimpse of what the Swiss maestro used to offer, according to Andy Roddick. Given her performance, Roddick believes “the first 15 to 20 minutes” of the final match is going to be “incredibly important for Paolini.”

Terrell Owens holding Dude Wipes XL

The American legend highlighted how Federer used to make bright starts in his matches. Well begun is half done, and the likes of Federer and Swiatek took this statement seriously. The Swiss maestro could hardly ever be stopped after he made bright starts in his matches quite often and Roddick is seeing this quality in Swiatek as well.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

In a recent episode of his podcast, Roddick mentioned, “Iga is one of the best front runners of all time similar to uh Roger. When Roger got a lead he rarely uh gave it up I you know you feel like if he breaks early you’re going to have to catch up to him was very very hard. Iga’s the same way the first 15 to 20 minutes of this match are incredibly important for Paolini.”

ADVERTISEMENT

article-image

Reuters

For the record, Swiatek has just lost 14 games in her last four matches leading up to the French Open summit clash. She even enforced a bagel on her opponents on three occasions. As a result, Roddick advised Paolini to brace up for this challenge when she faces Swiatek later today. Moreover, Swiatek also reminded Roddick about Rafael Nadal with her dominance.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iga Swiatek getting compared to the GOATs of tennis

The 23-year Pole is aiming for a hattrick of titles at the French Open. Her performance in the tournament has simply been amazing and has drawn parallels to not only Federer but also her idol, Nadal. During one of the episodes of the ‘Served With Andy Roddick’ podcast, the American legend compared the dominance of Swiatek to that of Nadal at the French Open.

ADVERTISEMENT

He mentioned, “Iga Swiatek has just dominated. I mean, she’s just not losing games. It reminds me of Rafa in 2008. He was barely losing games to win the tournament. It felt like we were betting on whether guys were going to get three games in a set against him. That’s what it feels like with Iga so far.”

Although the odds are stacked in favor of Swiatek to win the French Open, her opponent, Jasmine Paolini, has shown why she cannot be written off just yet. Indeed, it is gonna be a thrilling final later today and fans can brace for some entertaining tennis tonight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by

author-image

Vatsal Shah

3,705 Articles

Vatsal Shah is a tennis journalist at EssentiallySports, covering ATP and WTA storylines from the ES Trends Desk since 2023. He delivers breaking insights on major tournaments and player arcs, decoding tactical shifts and viral moments into accessible takeaways for fans worldwide. His coverage of Taylor Townsend’s Dubai title win stood out for capturing both the emotional significance of her victory and the context of her comeback.

Know more

Edited by

editor-image

Ananya Giri

ADVERTISEMENT