Iga Swiatek reveals the big lessons she learned from Rafael Nadal

“Rafael Nadal has already taught me that always fighting to the end and not giving up is the best way to go. Increases your chances of winning. There’s no point in working hard and giving everything to play well and give up in the end. He managed to overturn some matches that seemed impossible. This inspired me, but also his way of being off the court, very humble and focused on work. Success doesn’t seem to have changed him, so yes, I like the person he is in general.”

She is the woman to beat, she is the queen of the clay-courts and, above all, her psychophysical stat is exceptional: Iga Swiatek is undoubtedly the favorite for the final victory at the Roland Garros. But even among the many topics she talked about the press conference after her first round victory, the Pole spent a beautiful message for her tennis idol Rafael Nadal. The Spanish legend lost yesterday his forst round against Alexander Zverev, in what might have been he’s last match on the Philippe Chatrier. Anyway, Rafa left a door open for a come back in Paris. Who knows what will happen.

Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal© Matthew Stockman / Staff Getty Images Sport

In the meanwhile, tomorrow Swiatek has a challenge that could be treacherous, against the 4 times Slam champion Naomi Osaka. At the moment, however, the Pole seems too strong for all her opponents: she needed just over an hour to beat the Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Parisian Major. Now the fascinating 2nd round match against Osaka is eagerly awaited for many reasons by many insiders and fans.

“I’m really impressed with Naomi Osaka’s come back. I think she’s a great person and her style is also very fun to watch. I’ve never played with Naomi on clay, so we’ll see what happens. We have to prepare tactically, but every match that we have played on hard courts have always been intense and tough. I’m happy that she’s back and that she’s playing more tournaments than before the break. It won’t be easy,” said Iga at the press conference. 

Iga Swiatek© Getty Images Sport – Clive Mason

The Pole then analyzed the difficulties in managing success. a topic that involves many athletes and is significantly intrinsic to the mental health of athletes.

“We know it’s not easy to be in this place with all the pressure around. So I think my team has been quite smart in planning everything, with tennis obviously, but also with the business aspect. Daria Abramowicz (to his psychologist – ed.) helped me a lot in this sense and it is a part of his work that no one realizes. She is someone who tells me if I should stop doing too many things off the court and focus on my work. Generally, she sees these warning signs before I do. Dealing with success is not easy and I think we did everything intelligently, but I don’t know what it would have been like without looking at the stories of the other players. Everyone has a different approach and I think we did well to choose the right one for me. I also want to make money, but on the other hand be really focused on tennis because there are a lot of things that can happen suddenly and make everything difficult. I’m happy to have good people around me who told me what to do and what not to do,” she explained.

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Iga Swiatek© Getty Images Sport – Clive Mason

so at the press conference, Swiatek analyzed his own performance: “With the roof closed it was different than in training, so I needed a little more time to adapt, especially with the shots because the roof here is very complicated. However, I think overall it was a pretty solid match, I’m happy to be back playing here.”