It is well known amongst tennis fans that Iga Swiatek‘s idol is tennis legend, Rafael Nadal. After the recently concluded 2024 French Open, Swiatek was seen at the Rafael Nadal Academy as she was invited to the institution as a guest of honor for giving the speech to this year’s graduating class.
“Thank you guys for having me, it’s a huge honor. I hope you’re not going to say I should stick to tennis. It’s also a huge opportunity for me. Thank you, everybody, for making this place so beautiful,” she said in her speech. She also hailed Rafael Nadal for always being an inspiration for her throughout her career. The 22-year-old urged the students to be “tenacious” just like the Spanish legend. Also Read: Rennae Stubbs points out similarities between Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic
In the 2024 French Open, Swiatek defeated Karolina Muchova in the final 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to secure her third Roland Garros title and overall her fourth Grand Slam. That was the only time throughout her French Open that she did not win in straight sets.
After this win, Swiatek topped Forbes’ ranking of the most valuable female personal brands in Poland. She stood at the top in 2021 and 2022 also. This year, after her fourth-round exit at the Australian Open, she won the Qatar Open by beating Jessica Pegula, Stuttgart Open by beating Aryna Sabalenka, and finally the most valuable title, the French Open. Also Read: Caught red-handed! Stefanos Tsitsipas hilariously accused of using ChatGPT to write congratulatory note to Novak Djokovic after Serb’s French Open win
Iga Swiatek will be gearing up for the 2024 Wimbledon
Swiatek is a force to reckon with on clay and she can be quite dominant on hard courts too. But the grass is not her forte. Though the Pole won the French Open three times, the US Open once, and reached three Australian Open semi-finals, she never went past the fourth round at Wimbledon. She even joked that one can watch her at Wimbledon in the first week only.
“For Wimbledon, if you want to watch me, first week only. Because the second week it’s possible that I won’t be there anymore. French is more secure, for sure,” Swiatek told Mikaela Shiffrin in a recent Instagram live chat on Laureus Sports about her Wimbledon results.
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