“He’s a role model and I am just a huge fan” Newly crowned World No. 2 Iga Swiatek talks of her friendship with Rafael Nadal after winning the Indian Wells title
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Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal
20-year old Iga Swiatek becomes the new World No. 2 as she went on to defeat Maria Sakkari in the finals of the 2022 Indian Wells Open. With the winner set to become the World No. 2 and the runner-up to take the 3rd spot in the rankings, Iga went on to win the match 6-4, 6-1 to win her 3rd WTA-1000 title.
Iga is now on an 11-match unbeaten streak having won the WTA-1000 Qatar Open in Doha as well that sees her win two consecutive WTA-1000 titles for the first time and is now on a 5-match winning streak in tournament finals ever since she lost her first-ever Tour finals in 2019.
With Iga’s finals being played before the Men’s singles finals between Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz, Iga was able to meet Nadal for a brief moment once again. The two former French Open champions have developed a good rapport on the Tour often meeting and have also had practice sessions together that has been a dream come true for the Pole.
“I don’t know if it is a friendship honestly. Being able to talk to him is an amazing experience for me and it’s a dream come true. He is an inspiration, his Australian Open finals that I watched from the stands, I mean, it was unbelievable and he is a guy that never gives up. I want to have the same amount of belief in myself and like really keep pushing no matter what. He’s a role model for many people and I am just a huge fan,” said Iga speaking with Tennis Channel.
Iga Swiatek to seek a hattrick of titles at the 2022 Miami Open
Iga will now be heading to the 2022 Miami Open where she will look to win her third consecutive WTA-1000 title of the season. In her previous two appearances at the tournament, she failed to reach the main-draw in 2019 losing in the final qualifier. She made her main-draw debut in 2021, reaching the third round.
Reaching Florida with a supreme form, the Pole in absence of defending champion Ash Barty will be the title favourite with other players failing to match the 20-year old’s consistency this year. Another 1000 points will also see Iga close the gap with Barty who currently leads the Pole with more than 2000 points in the WTA rankings.
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Sarthak Shitole
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