Gracias Rafa! 19th November 2024 will now be remembered as the day when one of the biggest stars ever to grace the tennis world had his swansong. Almost 10,000 people inside Malaga’s Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena witnessed the end of a remarkable journey. Everyone inside the stadium got a bit emotional and tears rolled down their cheeks as Rafael Nadal went on to say, “The reality is that you never want this moment to come, I’m not tired of playing tennis, but my body doesn’t want to play tennis anymore.” Even WTA star, Iga Swiatek couldn’t hold on to her tears seeing her idol’s retirement scenes.

Rafael Nadal bit his lower lip and his reddened eyes welled with tears when he stood alongside his Davis Cup teammates for Spain’s national anthem before their match against the Netherlands. Spain lost that tie by 1-2, but these were some of the moments that took away the spotlight from the result of the match. And, why not? What a remarkable journey this has been for almost 23 years! Iga Swiatek recently shared a glimpse of that emotional moment featuring the Spanish legend and she captioned her tweet with, “Too much 😭.”

When Rafael Nadal announced his retirement, Iga Swiatek was among the first ones to pen down an emotional note to highlight his remarkable journey. She wrote, “You (Rafa) were and still are the biggest inspiration that I ever had in tennis. The reason why sometimes I got extra motivated and kept pushing myself.” Now since her “biggest inspiration” has brought in an end to his professional career, how much will Swiatek miss watching this tennis legend?

Well, according to the Polish superstar, “I will miss watching him on the court a lot. Honestly, he was the only player I watched, so I don’t know if I will continue watching tennis now. He is a great inspiration.” Talking about setting an example for the next generation, Rafael Nadal is happy to make one of his hobbies turn into his career. However, at the same time, he also mentioned that he has left both a sporting and personal legacy after retiring from professional tennis. Perhaps now it’s time for the next generation to carry forward that legacy!

Iga Swiatek has often talked about this legacy during her speeches. Her love, admiration, and respect for the Spaniard is so intense that she once revealed that she had cried after seeing Nadal getting defeated in a match. Which match was it, though?

Iga Swiatek sheds light on her memorable moments featuring her tennis idol, Rafael Nadal

During a recent interview with Tennis Channel, Iga Swiatek spoke about the match which made her cry and also taught her a valuable lesson in her life. At first, she spoke about her practice session with Rafael Nadal during a previous edition of the Roland Garros. She claimed that it was actually, “like a gift for my birthday.” Then afterward, Swiatek revealed that they hit for almost 15 minutes and during this short time span, she got the chance to understand more about Rafael Nadal as a person. “I realized that he’s really down to earth and humble. That was the first time I talked to him so it was special,” said Swiatek.

Iga Swiatek also recalled a moment from the SF of the 2021 French Open where Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal by 3-6,6-3,7-6(4),6-2. That was during the COVID time, and she said that they were staying in the same hotel. Further explaining her disappointment after seeing her idol’s defeat, Swiatek revealed, “I saw him (Nadal) somewhere in the hotel and I told him that I even cried when he lost. He was so calm and he said, ‘That’s just tennis and life goes on and there are gonna be different goals in the future.’”

What was Iga Swiatek’s reaction after hearing these words from the tennis legend? Well, she went on to add, “So I was like, ‘Wow, this person really knows how to deal with losing, even your favorite tournament.’ I realized that off the court you also need to learn on how to deal with stuff to be a better player on the court.” Just like Swiatek, everyone admires Rafael Nadal for his contributions to the racquet sport. What are your thoughts on his remarkable 23-year-long journey?