Iga Swiatek Reveals Why She Didn’t Speak with Alexandra Eala at Rafa Nadal Academy Graduation Ceremony: “I Was a Bit Stressed”

Last year during the Miami Open, the tennis world saw the emergence of a new star on the women’s tour. It was Alexandra Eala, who beat three Grand Slam champions before her defeat to eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, her opponent was none other than the player who handed her the certificate during the graduation ceremony at the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2023. It was, obviously, former World No.1 Iga Swiatek.

The six-time Grand Slam champion was the guest of honor and delivered the keynote speech. Her whole focus was on giving a good speech, which is why Swiatek did not speak much with the 21-year-old.

Swiatek is set to start her campaign at the Canadian Open, and at the pre-tournament press conference, she was asked about the ceremony.

We didn’t know each other that much. I remember I also practiced with her in Miami Open when she wasn’t on tour yet. That was the first time we met, and then the second time was at Rafa’s, but I was really focused on not ruining my speech. So that was my main goal. I was a bit stressed I got to say, because it’s not like I give speeches a lot of times; mostly I’m doing interviews, but speech is a different kind of thing. So I was focused on that.

Eala has performed consistently this year. She, in fact, was the reason why Swiatek failed to make a deep run at Wimbledon, where she also competed as the defending champion. Eala clinched a straight-set win over her in the third round to improve her head-to-head lead to 2-1, also becoming the first Filipino to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.

Alex was also just graduating, so she had her own experience, and I was already kind of past that, you know, I finished high school few years ago. So I felt like, yeah, I should focus on my job. She should focus on graduating and enjoying the last day in school basically.

Iga Swiatek added

Eala needs just one match win to clinch her career’s first tour-level title. She reached the final of the Citi Open and played against Jessica Pegula, but the match was suspended due to rain. It’s the second time she reached a final, following last year’s Eastbourne International, which ended in Maya Joint‘s favor.

Iga Swiatek reveals the only player she followed at Wimbledon after her exit

Following her Wimbledon upset at the hands of Alexandra Eala, Iga Swiatek headed to Greece for vacation. She spent about a week there enjoying time with her friends, and also tried to forget about tennis, but alas, she could not. Her compatriot Hubert Hurkacz was still playing, so she was checking the scores.

I just followed Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon, but I wasn’t watching anything. It was a good time to, yeah, just relax and live a different life than the tennis one.

Iga Swiatek said at the press conference in Toronto

Hubert reached the fourth round but was forced to hand the walkover to Jan-Lennard Struff due to injury problems. The 29-year-old will face Marcos Giron to start his campaign at the Canadian Open.

Swiatek, on the other hand, will kick off her campaign against Sara Bejlek. She will be meeting the Czech ace for the second time in her career following their year’s French Open second round, which Swiatek won.

The World No.8 hasn’t yet clinched a title this season, and, in fact, has not yet played a final. The only time she reached a semifinal was at the Italian Open. Last year, she won three titles, last winning it at the Korea Open.

Also read: Rennae Stubbs Explains Why Victoria Mboko Can Lift Grand Slam Trophy but Alexandra Eala ‘Will Never Win’ One