Iga Swiatek's clay season restart will take shape at this week's Italian Open and recently practiced at the Rafa Nadal Academy, owned by 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
After winning Stuttgart, her fourth title of the season, the Pole opted to rest her shoulder during the week in Madrid. Instead, she chose to travel to Mallorca together with her coaching team for a training block at the famous academy.
Swiatek has long been an admirer of former ATP World No. 1 Nadal, not solely because of his record on clay but also because of his personality, charisma, and mentality.
Like the Spaniard, the WTA World No. 1 is also a Roland Garros champion and spent quality time in Spain before departing to Italy as she bids to extend her 23-match win streak.
In addition to hitting the practice courts, the 20-year-old was given a tour of the museum, where she had exclusive access to all the trophies that Nadal has won in his illustrious career. She spoke of the profound sense of contentment she felt seeing the multisport accomplishments stored there.
“For sure it was inspiring. You could see all the trophies, which is amazing. Seeing numbers on Wikipedia is one thing, but seeing all the trophies, how consistent he was sometimes in some tournaments, it's amazing."
"Actually, I really like this museum. It was not only about Rafa and about tennis, but also about other sports. You could see there was Fernando Alonso Formula 1 where he won world championships."
Swiatek is the defending champion in Rome, and her title defense starts today. She also touched upon the sudden rise of Carlos Alcaraz, who won this year's Madrid Open, beating Nadal and Novak Djokovic on his way to the title.
"I want to watch highlights for sure. I'm going to do that. I didn't have time because [the] last couple of days have been really busy for me in terms of practising. I'm going to do that for sure because what he's doing is amazing. Wow, like winning against Rafa and Novak on the same tournament, just crazy."
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