Andy Roddick backs Aryna Sabalenka over Iga Swiatek in Rome Open final

Former world number one Andy Roddick believes that Belarus’ star tennis player Aryna Sabalenka is playing ‘better’ ahead of the final of the Rome Open against Poland’s Iga Swiatek. The two are already regarded as the best players currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category.

Both Swiatek and Sabalenka will be playing in the second consecutive final of a WTA 1000 event in Rome on Saturday. The two recently played in the final of the Madrid Open, where the reigning world number one came out on top. Roddick was recently quoted in a report in which he stated that back-to-back finals between the two best players in women’s tennis are spoiling fans, but he believes that Sabalenka will start the contest as the favourite.

"We are starting to get a little spoiled in the best possible way by this matchup,” he said. “They had a run of matches last year on clay. I think Stuttgart, Madrid we've already had (this year). The Madrid showdown.. there was nothing between them in that match. I know Iga won, but I thought that's where Sabalenka really showed her best tennis of that week by far and she's continued it. There's no questions about Iga's form on clay right now, but I think Sabalenka is playing better in the lead up. Now, we'll never know how the match is going to go on a given day, but I think Sabalenka's form, she's a lot more confident going into this one than Madrid.”