Iga Swiatek admits she is “a big Rafael Nadal” fan and noted she absolutely does not want to see her idol “suffering a lot.” Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, hasn’t played since the Australian Open due to an injury suffered to his psoas muscle.
Initially, it was said Nadal would be ready for the start of the clay season in Monte Carlo. Instead, Nadal ended up withdrawing from Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. After Nadal also withdrew from Rome, the fears of seeing the Spaniard out of the French Open massively increased.
Swiatek: I’m a big Nadal fan and I don’t want to see him suffer
“I’m a big Rafa fan. For sure I wish he could play. But honestly, like, I really, really respect what kind of warrior he is. He’s always trying to push and trying to get better and play better and just trying to compete on the highest level.
But on the other hand, I don’t know how much, like, pain he’s living with. I don’t want to, like, see him suffering a lot. I’m kind of like biased because I would love to see him play, but on the other hand I know if he’s going to really, like, suffer, it’s not going to be so fun to see him like that.
I just hope he’s going to kind of be healthy and happy. That’s like the main goal no matter what happens with tennis,” Swiatek said, via Sportskeeda. Last year, Swiatek won the French Open women’s event while Nadal won a record 14th French Open men’s title.
But this year, we may not see Nadal defend his title at Roland Garros. Last year, Nadal was in a tough situation but still managed to play and win the French Open. This year, Nadal is again in a tough position but this time it seems to be a much more difficult situation.
