Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek salute Rafael Nadal

  • Posted: Oct 11, 2024

After Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from professional tennis at the end of the 2024 season on Thursday, WTA stars Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff shared heartwarming messages for the former World No. 1, who spent 209 weeks atop the PIF ATP Rankings during his career.

Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion who considers Nadal her role model, posted a video on social media, sharing thoughts about her “biggest inspiration” and his impact on her career.

“You were and still are the biggest inspiration that I ever had in tennis. The reason why sometimes I got extra motivated and kept pushing myself,” the four-time Roland Garros champion shared.

Calling it a special day for every tennis fan, Swiatek thanked the 22-time Grand Slam champion for humility and wished him the best as he prepares for the next chapter of his life.

“I hope you’re going to enjoy the other part of your life and hopefully maybe some other career, because the sky is the limit for you now. And I hope you are going to spend a lot of time now with your close ones and your family.”

Coco Gauff also shared her thoughts about the 14-time Roland Garros champion at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open WTA tournament in China.

“He is my favorite person to watch practice honestly,” the 2023 US Open champion said. “The intensity that he brought on the practice court and obviously on the match court is something that I felt like watching is unmatched.

“Watching the video, a bit emotional because Rafa is all I’ve known growing up. Pretty sure he’s won Roland Garros for the majority of my life,” shared Gauff, born three years after Nadal turned pro in 2001.

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She also recalled fond memories of Nadal from this year’s Paris Olympics.

“Actually, I don’t think I posted the picture, but we traded pins at the Olympics, which is the one thing I wanted to do. He was super nice with that. We were both waiting on the shuttle. It was the last shuttle of the day, like 11 p.m. I asked him if I could have one of his pins. He gave me one.

“Carlos [Alcaraz] was there, too, but Carlos didn’t have any pins. I only took the picture with Rafa there. I was like, ‘Carlos, you can’t be in it because you didn’t give me a pin,” she shared, laughing.

“Yeah, just something like that I’ll remember. And something I’ll definitely tell my kids because it meant a lot to me.”

The Spaniard, who has a 12-7 record for the 2024 season according to Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, will play his final event at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, in November.

– with assistance from WTATennis.com.

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