Iga Swiatek is beginning to resemble the renowned Rafael Nadal on clay, but she does not want to be compared to him.
The young Pole grew up idolizing Nadal, and she doesn’t disguise it. She was in attendance for his most recent match at Roland Garros versus Alexander Zverev and was seen becoming upset during the match.
She also admitted to crying after watching his Madrid Open ceremony, indicating a strong connection with the Spaniard. As a result, she is well-versed in his game and accomplishments, and she flatly refuses to draw comparisons between herself and the Spaniard on clay since she believes he is far superior on the surface.
Her dominance is well established, and it’s slowly starting to look very much like what Nadal has been capable of doing on the surface.
Despite her discomfort with the comparisons to Nadal, Swiatek is nonetheless proud of what she accomplished at Roland Garros because the comparison did not come out of nowhere.
They are being manufactured exactly because she has dominated the event, and no one has been as good in the French capital since Nadal.
“Yeah, as I said, we’ll see in a few of years, but I’m pleased of myself for playing regularly here and being considered alongside Rafa. That’s cool.
To leave a long legacy like Nadal, win a third Roland Garros title on Saturday. That hasn’t happened very often, and it would bring her total in Paris to four, more than Serena Williams (3), equal to Justine Henin (4), and only two short of Steffi Graf (6).
