Rafael Nadal has had a “huge impact” on Iga Swiatek’s career, but the Pole is set to miss the tennis great’s big farewell party in Malaga.
After more than two decades as a professional, the curtain will come down on Nadal’s illustrious career as he will retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
The Spaniard will bow out as one of the all-time greats of the sport as he has won 22 Grand Slams – including a record 14 Roland Garros titles – spent more than 200 weeks at No 1 in the ATP Rankings and set numerous other records with most of them coming on clay.
Following two injury-disrupted seasons, Nadal confirmed the tough decision at the beginning of October, stating: “It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make but in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.
“I think it is the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”
Several big names in tennis have indicated that they will attend the Davis Cup Finals to be part of his big sendoff with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray expected to make their way to Malaga next week.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek has made no secret that Nadal was her childhood idol and after his announcement she paid tribute to him, saying: “You are the biggest inspiration I ever had in tennis, and the reason why sometimes I got extra motivated – I kept pushing myself.”
The 23-year-old is currently in Spain as she is part of Poland’s Billie Jean King Cup squad, but she won’t attend his Davis Cup sendoff.
“I would love to see it, but I have to start the pre-season after competing here,” she told AS.
“Rafa has had a huge impact on me, on how I see tennis and my career as well. But I am going to miss him on the court.
“I know it’s a good decision for him, he’s played so well for so many years that he deserves to enjoy the second half of his life as well.
“So I hope he finds goals that make him happy. He’s a great person and I wish him the best.”
Davis Cup Finals Tournament Director Feliciano Lopez has previously admitted that the list of players who want to attend is long and some might be forced to miss the event.
“There are many more who want to be there and I don’t know if we are going to have seats for everyone,” he said.
“As you can imagine, all the tennis players that played in his time want to be there. Other athletes from different sports in Spain and everywhere in the world want to be part of this. So I’m sure it’s going to be a very special moment.”
