World No.1 Iga Swiatek admitted Saturday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia that even she has been emotional following Rafael Nadal in recent weeks.
“Mixed emotions because obviously I'm still pretty young, so it's hard for me to understand what his exact situation is," Swiatek said in an interview with Tennis Channel. "I haven't been in this place where I'm playing my last tournaments. But I watched the whole [retirement] ceremony in Madrid and I cried obviously, but he seems happy and that's the most important thing.”
Swiatek, a longtime Nadal fan, first watched the lefty in person at Roland Garros in 2017. As she rose to stardom on the Hologic WTA Tour, the Pole spoke many times about how much she idolized the Spaniard.
The 22-year-old has often discussed what she has learned from his game. On Saturday, Swiatek explained that she has also been learning from his mindset and approach.
“I think his approach is very, very smart and really, it's a good example of an athlete that is satisfied with what he achieved and he's okay with starting another chapter in his life, I guess. It seems like it,” Swiatek said. “So I think he's going to be a good example of how you should approach this kind of stuff.
"And it's normal, everybody's obviously making a huge fuss around it, but it's his life and he's doing everything the way he wants it on his terms, and I think it's great.”
Nadal lost his second-round match Saturday against seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz. Swiatek defeated Yulia Putintseva earlier in the day to continue her pursuit of the Madrid-Rome double.
