Nadal Leads Praise Of Swiatek At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 26, 2022

Nadal Leads Praise Of Swiatek At Roland Garros

May262022

Nadal, Swiatek trade compliments in press

Iga Swiatek scored her 30th consecutive match win on Thursday at Roland Garros, completing her passage into the third round with the loss of just four total games in her two victories. Her dominance is making headlines as she continues to draw rave reviews from her peers on the ATP Tour.

“She’s winning very easy. That’s special and very difficult,” Rafael Nadal said in his pre-tournament presser. “I saw her play a couple of matches and seems like today she’s over the rest. That’s what the results say, because when somebody like her is winning the tournaments and is winning with these results, I mean, it’s something special, no?

“Happy for her. She’s fresh. She’s natural. She’s young.”

Swiatek first broke through at the Grand Slam level when she stormed to the 2020 Roland Garros title without dropping more than five games in a single match. This season, she claimed the World No. 1 ranking for the first time in April and has won five WTA Tour titles on the season, proving herself a class apart from her competitors.

“It was a big surprise probably the first time, that couple of years ago when she won here,” Nadal reflected, “but the way that she’s playing this year looks unstoppable. But let’s let her play with calm and without an extra pressure, because probably for her, after the last results, [it] will be an important one here.”

Nadal offered similar praise in Rome: “She’s doing amazing things, no? Playing amazing and winning every single event she played, the last four in a row. Winning Indian Wells and Miami in a row, something difficult.”

Swiatek’s win streak now spans five events: Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart and Rome.

“Just happy for her,” Nadal added. “She’s very spontaneous and natural girl. Is good to have girls like this, good people like her having success.”

The Spaniard is far from the first ATP Tour star to sing the praises of Swiatek. Her countryman Hubert Hurkacz has called her a “huge inspiration,” while Andy Murray and Andy Roddick shared their admiration on Twitter during her run to the 2021 Roland Garros quarter-finals.

But at Roland Garros, the questions always come back to Nadal. In press, Swiatek was asked if she would like to play mixed doubles with the 13-time champion.

“Oh, my God. I would love to play mixed doubles with Rafa,” she beamed. “I think it would be really great experience. But when was the last time he played mixed doubles? I want him to be focused on singles.”

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