Tennis legend Andy Roddick identifies ‘new Roger | Sports News

Tennis legend Andy Roddick has high hopes for Carlos Alcaraz’s rivalry with Jannik Sinner whereas additionally figuring out the ‘new Roger Federer’. With the period of the ‘Big 3’ coming to an finish following the Swiss Maestro’s 2022 retirement and this season maybe being the final for Rafael Nadal, the game is keen to see who will type the sport’s subsequent historic rivalry.

The reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champions appear to be main the pack as their dynamic and electrifying performances in opposition to each other have captivated hundreds of thousands of spectators. Furthermore, the distinction between Alcaraz’s explosive high-risk recreation in opposition to the cool and considerably easy recreation of Sinner makes for an intriguing rivalry, which is locked at 4 wins apiece.

While in addition they look like the youthful era’s two most constant gamers who’ve already proven what it takes to succeed on the most important phases, Roddick has described the burgeoning rivalry because the one to hold the subsequent era of males’s tennis. “That Alcaraz v Jannik Sinner rivalry is beginning to really feel like a heavyweight battle with the power round it,” the previous World No. 1 wrote in his Betway column.

“The crowd was half-full 30 minutes before the match, which is telling you that people out there want to see it.” The pair last played one another in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Open, which was their first meeting since the Beijing semi-finals in October 2023.

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With the World No. 2 ranking on the line, the Italian wasted little time winning the first set 6-1, but Alcaraz responded emphatically. He stormed back to level the match before claiming a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 win, which was Sinner’s first loss in 2024. An impressive over Daniil Medvedev followed as Alcaraz defended the Indian Wells title and claimed his first trophy since Wimbledon, and Roddick was pleased to see the Spaniard back to his best. 

“The surface at Indian Wells does Carlos the most favours of any of the top players, so, searching for confidence, it was a great time for him to arrive at this venue and defend his title,” the 2003 US Open winner added. “It was nice to see him in full flight and this will give him a huge confidence boost going into the rest of the year. A confident, engaged Chucky Alcaraz is good for tennis.”

Roddick also had some high praise for Iga Swiatek who stormed to her second Indian Wells win. The Polish player stormed through the field to claim the trophy without dropping a set. This is the second time she has achieved this in 2024, after winning February’s Qatar Open without losing a set.

The 22-year-old has been the WTA’s most dominant player ever since she ascended to the No. 1 ranking back in 2022 following Ash Barty’s shock retirement. She is showing no signs of slowing down and her ruthlessness coupled with her consistency prompted Roddick to compare the World No. 1’s approach to Federer in his prime.

“Iga Swiatek didn’t drop a set on her way to the women’s title and is such a good front-runner,” the previous Wimbledon finalist mentioned. “It’s similar to Roger Federer – once he got a break in the first set and got comfortable, it was tough to lasso him and bring him back in.”

“Iga is the same way. Her confidence grows exponentially when she gets out in front and, when she gets into tournaments, she becomes very tough to beat. With four majors, eight Masters 1000s titles and 19 tournament wins, she is very quickly entering the realm of passing some heady names, and she’s still only 22 years old.”