World No.1 Iga Swiatek has been the player to beat over the last year on the WTA circuit, and her success could be attributed to her intimidating aura, says retired American pro Andy Roddick.
Swiatek has had an excellent start to the 2024 season, compiling a 22-3 record and winning two titles at WTA 1000 events in Doha and Indian Wells. The four-time Grand Slam champion saw her hopes of winning the Sunshine Double for the second time dissipate with a round of 16 defeat to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Miami Open earlier this week. Nonetheless, Swiatek still holds a healthy lead over Aryna Sabalenka on the WTA Rankings table.
Roddick believes Swiatek's aura tends to intimidate other players
In a conversation with journalist John Wertheim on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the former World No.1 was asked if Swiatek's aura played a role in her dominating the tour over the last few years.
“I think aura is this catch-all word which, in fact, we’re talking about accomplishment," replied Roddick. "The more accomplishments Iga Swiatek has, the more intimidating it is to play her. Not because she walks in the locker room and everyone moves out of the way to create a line. Everyone goes about their business, when you’re on the court, you’re confronted with what they’re presenting as a player and that is the intimidating thing.
“It’s one of these things that, like, I think fans use a lot. I think some journalists use a lot. Michael Jordan is like, ‘I will flip a switch!’ No, if you’re an athlete, you’d choose to play well all the time. That’s the point. It’s not as if we’re ever out there one time in my entire life and I’ve been in the first round of Miami and I’m playing great, ‘Maybe if I play worse now, I’ll play better later,’ like that’s not a f***ing thing.
“So aura is not a halo around someone’s head. The aura comes with knowing that you have to change your style of play, and that is intimidating in its own way. It’s the adjustments that you have to make."
“It’s one of these things that, like, I think fans use a lot. I think some journalists use a lot. Michael Jordan is like, ‘I will flip a switch!’ No, if you’re an athlete, you’d choose to play well all the time. That’s the point. It’s not as if we’re ever out there one time in my entire life and I’ve been in the first round of Miami and I’m playing great, ‘Maybe if I play worse now, I’ll play better later,’ like that’s not a f***ing thing.
“So aura is not a halo around someone’s head. The aura comes with knowing that you have to change your style of play, and that is intimidating in its own way. It’s the adjustments that you have to make."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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