Spain’s Rafael Nadal describes Iga Swiatek’s run of 37 consecutive wins as ‘amazing’ and he is also impressed by two younger stars in the women’s game.
The world No.4 spoke about the trio of WTA players following his roller-coaster 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, win over Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis. A match where he admits he didn’t ‘have the best start.’ In the fourth set Nadal had to endure a 50-minute rain delay before returning and sealing his place in the last 32 at The All England Club for the 11th time in his career.
“The fourth set has been the level of tennis for me, an important improvement. The rest of the things I have room to improve.” He commented.
Nadal’s triumph occurred on the same day as Swiatek also booked herself a place in the third round. Like the Spaniard, she also endured a roller-coaster match. The Pole has won six titles in a row and is only the second woman since 1990 to reach straight 37 wins after Martina Hingis. She has managed to win a set 6-0 17 times already this year. In total she has won 43 matches in 2022 which is 11 more than any other player on the WTA Tour (as of today).
The dominance of the 20-year-old hasn’t gone unnoticed by Nadal who more than a decade ago in 2008 was on a 32-match winning run before losing to the formidable Novak Djokovic.
“I texted her a couple of times because it’s unbelievable the way that she’s playing. It’s unbelievable the way that she’s able to hold her concentration and the winning spirit for such a long time.” Nadal said of Swiatek.
“I think when she’s playing well, it’s very difficult to stop her because her shots are a little bit different, with a lot of power. She’s able to move well. I think she has shots that are very difficult to stop for the rest of the girls.”
Swiatek’s game style is one that has been heavily influenced by the 22-time Grand Slam winner who she has named as one of her idols. During an interview with Eurosport France earlier this year she said ‘I wanted to play topspin like him (Nadal). He is the reason why I play like this. Rafa has always been my idol.”
Another player who Nadal spoke highly of was Emma Raducanu who he describes as a ‘very important character’ to the sport. The Brit burst onto the scene last year by winning the US Open after coming through three rounds of qualifying. However, since then Raducanu is yet to make another Tour final and crashed out in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday to Caroline Garcia.
“I think she’s a very important character for our sport,” he said. “I know she’s having a tough year, but on the other hand she already won a slam at a very early stage of her career. That gives her I think calm to take her time to keep improving and to keep having chances in the near future. I really hope that she will.”
The maturity of Coco Gauff has also been hailed by Nadal. Despite being only 18 she has reached the final of the French Open this year and has been ranked as high as fifth in the world. This year’s Wimbledon is already her 11th main draw appearance in a major.
“I like the way that she talks to the crowd, to the press at the end of the matches. She’s fresh. She’s natural. Looks very mature in her thoughts,” said Nadal.
“I like the way that she plays. She fights for every ball. Even sometimes when she’s not playing that well, she keeps fighting till the end, running for every ball.’
“If she’s able just to improve a little bit with this physical performance that she has, we will probably be talking about a multi-Grand Slam winner.”
Nadal will play Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in his third round match at Wimbledon.
