One of Rafael Nadal ’s biggest fans on tour is undoubtedly Iga Swiatek , the women’s world number one, who has never shied away from admitting her admiration for the Spaniard. She is even following in his footsteps, completely dominating the clay courts, especially at Roland Garros.
Naturally, his eventual retirement would have affected such an avid follower. As Rafael Nadal says his goodbyes to all of the tournaments that have been important to him throughout his career, Iga Swiatek was asked how she felt about it.
Mixed emotions. I'm pretty young so it's hard for me to understand what's his exact situation as I haven't been in a situation when I'm playing my last tournament. Iga Swiatek said via Tennis Channel
While she was answering the question, she admitted to being distracted by Nadal’s match which was airing in the studio at the time. This goes to show her sincerity towards her idol. The Pole emphasized that people should stop making a huge deal out of his plans as he is retiring on his own terms, which is admirable.
His approach is very smart. It's a good example of an athlete who is satisfied with what he's achieved. Everybody is obviously making a huge fuss about it but it's his life and he's doing everything on his terms. Iga Swiatek added
She also opened up about feeling emotional after Nadal’s farewell ceremony in Madrid, saying she cried when it happened but seeing him happy gave her some consolation.
Rafael Nadal’s unbelievable record which no one can break
In an era of tennis where just three people dominated others for over twenty years, each surface was a kingdom of one of these three. Facing Djokovic on hard courts and Federer on grass are some of the most difficult challenges in tennis, if not in all of sport.
However, Nadal on clay is the pinnacle, the final boss of tennis, as corroborated by statements from Djokovic himself. In times when players struggle to maintain a positive win-loss ratio, Rafa has an unthinkable positive title-loss ratio on court. This means that the Spaniard has more trophies than defeats on the red dirt. He is the only player in history to have such a record and will probably remain the only player ever to achieve this.
The King of Clay has earned a total of 63 titles on clay and suffered just 48 losses on the surface in his career which has spanned well over two decades. Of the 48 losses, 3 have come this year.
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