"Tell me Iga Swiatek doesn't care" - Andy Roddick offers his sympathies to World No. 1 after she breaks down in tears post-Naomi Osaka win
Andy Roddick heaped praise on Iga Swiatek after taking notice of a video that shows the Pole breaking down in tears following her narrow second-round win Naomi Osaka at the ongoing French Open. The World No. 1 saved a match point to defeat the Japanese.
Swiatek, the defending French Open champion, narrowly won the first set against Osaka, 7-6(1). However, Osaka seemed to turn back time in the second set, as she shockingly dismantled Swiatek 6-1 with some of the best tennis she has played since her return to the sport after becoming a mother. The Japanese continued in the same vein in the third set, racing to a seemingly insurmountable 5-2 lead.
However, from this point on, Swiatek showed exactly why she has established herself as the top-ranked women's tennis player in the world. The Pole miraculously won five games in succession to clinch the set 7-5, completely turning the tables on Osaka to win the match and progress to the third round.
After the match, cameras captured Swiatek lying down, and at one point, she could not hold back her tears. The video made its way to social media, where it drew Roddick's attention. The 2003 US Open champion shared the video and was full of praise for both the "champion" and "human" sides of the reigning WTA World No. 1 and three-time French Open champion.
"Try to tell me Iga doesn’t care. This was a second round match at a tournament she’s already won three times. This is sports. You fight, you survive, and then you become human again. Rinse, repeat. This woman is a champion….. and human," Roddick wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"I actually managed to be more focused at the end of the match" - Iga Swiatek
At a press conference following the nail-biting conclusion to the match against Naomi Osaka, Iga Swiatek talked about how she spectacularly managed to turn things around. According to the Pole, she struggled to concentrate across the first two sets, but her concentration levels skyrocketed when she looked completely down and out in the third set.
"I actually managed to be more focused at the end of the match, which went pretty badly. In the first and second sets, I felt like I was not completely in the zone. And when I was under the biggest pressure, I was actually able to switch that, and maybe that made the difference," Swiatek said.
Iga Swiatek is set to face Marie Bouzkova in the third round next. If she progresses to the fourth round, she will face either Anastasia Potapova or Wang Xinyu.