Iga Swiatek is currently competing at the 2023 Italian Open and she has also time to check if things said about her are correct.
After winning 6-0, 6-0 in her opening match at the WTA 1000 event in Rome, Swiatek won 12 consecutive games again in her third-round match, beating Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0 and advancing to the fourth round of the 2023 Italian Open.
Due to her success on the clay courts, including two Grand Slam trophies from the Roland Garros, many consider Swiatek a clay-court specialist. However, many times throughout her career, she showed that she can win anywhere.
After her third-round win in Rome, the Pole was asked about the concept of a clay-court specialist and if she believes that there's currently something like that or if its something that should be considered to be a thing of a past. When answering the question, Swiatek said:
"Well, I think if we want to be the best in tennis, you have to play well on all these surfaces. I'm lucky enough to have the grass court season only for three weeks, but I'm still getting it. I know it's an important part of the tour and I should be better at it."
When trying to explain her point of view, the world no. 1 took Rafael Nadal as an example. Without a doubt, the Spaniard is the greatest player to ever step on the red dirt, but he succeeded also on the hard and grass courts.
"For sure I feel like, yeah, you should be good on all surfaces. As you could see, Rafa, he's called clay court specialist, but he won so many tournaments on hard court and grass as well. The goal is to be good everywhere."
However, her explanation was misinterpreted and misquoted by the news publication We Are Tennis, who made the quote seem as if Swiatek said that she wanted to become as successful as Rafael Nadal. Their quote read:
"Like me, Rafael Nadal is considered a clay-court specialist, but he has won everything on hard courts and on grass. The goal is to win everything like Rafael Nadal."
Swiatek noticed that on social media and quickly responded as she wasn't happy about the fact that her words were twisted, stating:
"I didn't say this. Why do you publish fake news?"
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