Andy
Roddick analyzed what happened in the women's draw at
Wimbledon and the form of
the top 4. The former world No. 1 explained why the circumstances favored
Barbora Krejcikova to win the title, although he maintained that
Iga Swiatek,
Coco Gauff,
Aryna Sabalenka, and
Elena Rybakina are a step above the rest.
The 2003 US
Open champion discussed the 'chaos' at Wimbledon on his podcast, caused by
weather conditions that led to match suspensions and indoor play, altering the
playing conditions. Roddick also praised Krejcikova's excellent level and
asserted that she has already secured a place in the Hall of Fame.
Roddick
analyzed the reasons that made Wimbledon a tournament full of surprises on the
women's side. One of the main factors was the surface conditions and how many
top players fluctuate significantly depending on the surface they play on.
"I
think the field from, you know, five to thirty in the rankings or Krejcikova at
31, there are a lot of players. There are ten, twelve that are very fluent on
this surface where they say, 'Okay, this is probably my favorite
surface,'" the former world No. 1 said. "I'm thinking, you know,
Ostapenko, I'm thinking Krejcikova obviously very fluent, Raducanu likes the
surface maybe more than any other surface, even including Vekic, the same
thing."
Roddick
commented that Sabalenka's last-minute withdrawal opened up possibilities in
the draw. The Belarusian withdrew from the tournament due to a shoulder injury:
"Your odds-on favorite based on game and form pulls out on Saturday before
the tournament, citing a shoulder injury late on Friday, basically to emphasize
its seriousness. Saturday she withdraws, which blows open the field as well.
Someone fills her spot, but the draw is already kind of messed up a little
bit."
"Rybakina
is there and it's weird whenever anyone kind of shifted into that favorite
once, you know, Swiatek loses, Sabalenka is out, all of a sudden we're going
well don't bet against Coco, here she comes. Navaro beats her and then we're
going okay Navaro and then Navaro loses one and two."
"It's
just like it was bananas trying to base anything on form on record," Andy
Roddick said. "Shortening the grasscourt season makes it really hard to
decipher who's real and who's not based on form coming into the surface."
"They
essentially played two different tournaments in this event. The first week felt
like an indoor tournament for many showcase matches, which was very different:
a ball striker's paradise. Then suddenly, you introduce a bit of air and wind,
and the dynamics change—movement becomes different, and it's much more slippery
indoors. Essentially, it was like playing on two completely different surfaces:
indoor grass versus outdoor grass."
"So I
think this was like the perfect scenario for chaos on this side of the
draw," the former world No. 1 stated. "And I guess it takes someone
like Krejcikova, who is a known entity and won't get freaked out by being in
the round of 16, quarterfinals, semis, or final of a Grand Slam, as she has
been there before. At scale, I still think the top four, the big four, the best
players are still the best players and they will be consistently week in and
week out."
![Barbora Krejcikova with the Venus Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon.](https://r.testifier.nl/Acbs8526SDKI/resizing_type:fit/watermark:Picture%3A%20IMAGO/width:1280/plain/https://s3-newsifier.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tennisuptodate.com/images/2024-07/krejcikovawimbledonwin-66929fcdb5b34.jpg@webp)
Barbora Krejcikova with the Venus Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon.
The
American also showered praise on Krejcikova as a player capable of adapting to
all types of playing conditions and possessing the mental strength to perform
in the final stages of tournaments: “You're
not going to put Krejcikova on any surface and have her say, "I have no
idea what to do on this surface,"' Roddick added. 'Obviously, the person
who can handle different scenarios, surfaces, and opponents in a chaotic world
will be poised for success.'"
“Krejcikova’s
journey is probably going to end in Newport at the Hall of Fame. It will end in
Newport in in the Hall of Fame someday when she's done. Obviously two majors
career had ranking number two uh a bunch of doubles titles right Grand Slam
she's won Wimbledon twice in doubles those factors lead up to a a Hall of Fame
resume so let me be the first to congratulate you on getting into the Hall of Fame
because I truly with all of my soul believe, that will happen”
“I think
for the rest of the year it's going to be very exciting I don't know that
anyone with any sort of certainty can say this is exactly how it's going to
play out um but that's what makes it fun,” Roddick concluded.