“I’m doing Aryna Sabalenka a favor” – Andy Roddick gives bizarre reason why Belarusian should be happy with his bold Elena Rybakina pick for US Open

Former player Andy Roddick has picked Elena Rybakina to reach the US Open semifinals over Aryna Sabalenka. The 2003 US Open champion also playfully claimed that whenever he has predicted the Belarusian wouldn’t win, she ends up coming out on top.

Sabalenka and Rybakina have played each other 12 times, with the former leading head-to-head 7-5. They first met on the court at the 2019 Wuhan Open, the Kazakh player’s first WTA 1000 event. Despite her best efforts, she succumbed to defending champion Sabalenka in two sets. In both their Grand Slam meetings at the 2021 Wimbledon and 2023 Australian Open, the Belarusian prevailed.

However, at the Cincinnati Open recently, Elena Rybakina trounced the three-time Major winner in the quarterfinals, but ultimately fell to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the semifinals.

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Ahead of the US Open, Andy Roddick made a bold prediction that he sees Rybakina making it to the US Open semifinals over Sabalenka, even though the Kazakh would likely have to defeat formidable players to make it that far.

On the Served podcast, where Jon Wertheim picked Sabalenka, Roddick saw their possible match-up in a different light, saying:

"This is where I get stuck because in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, I think I want to take Rybakina right now. For Rybakina to get to the semis, where I want her to get to, she has to get through Paolini and Sabalenka, hypothetically back-to-back, so it's like, 'Do I hedge and put Sabalenka in the semis just because I like that path a little bit better?' I don't know, I have Rybakina in the semifinals." (31:56 onwards)

Wertheim was surprised with Roddick's opinion and said:

"Whoa! Over the defending champion?"

Andy Roddick then clarified and said that Aryna Sabalenka would be happy with the prediction because whenever he picks her to win, she ends up losing.

"Which should make Aryna's day because I've picked her in every Slam so far, and she hasn't won, so I'm actually doing her a favor. Last time I picked against her, she won, so 'Congratulations, Sabalenka, you just won the tournament I picked Rybakina.'"

Rybakina will face Julieta Pareja in the opening round of the US Open, while the defending champion is set to open her campaign against Rebeka Masarova.

A look at Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina's time during the US Open Fan Week

Aryna Sabalenka was not a part of the star-studded mixed doubles event, but she did engage in multiple brand endorsements and strolled around the streets of New York. She then hit the practice courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Center and made a special appearance during Novak Djokovic's session at Arthur Ashe.

Elena Rybakina paired with Taylor Fritz in the mixed doubles event but lost to eventual champions, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, in the last 16, 4-2, 4-2.

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About the author

Agnijeeta Majumder

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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