Birthday girl Iga Swiatek sees off best friend Kaja Juvan as she draws inspiration from Rafael Nadal

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Iga Swiatek in action

A practice session with her idol Rafael Nadal inspired Iga Swiatek as she made a winning start to the defence of her French Open title on her 20th birthday.

The young Pole produced a stunning run through the draw last year to win her maiden Grand Slam title and is among the big favourites to lift the trophy again this year.

Swiatek found herself up against her best friend Kaja Juvan in the opening round but there was nothing friendly about the first set as she took it to love – her third 6-0 set in a row after a double bagel against Karolina Pliskova in the final in Rome.

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The second set was much closer but Swiatek came through it to win 6-0, 7-5, sharing a hug and a debrief with Juvan on the court afterwards.

Swiatek still has a picture of Nadal on her bedroom wall, so Saturday’s practice session between the two reigning champions was something to treasure.

“It was great,” she said. “I had to prepare. Write some small (talk) topics, not to have an awkward silence. But Rafa is really, really great. He’s a really nice guy. Even though I am pretty introverted, it was really fun for me.

“Obviously I got to feel his forehand, which was great, and his topspin. That was a whole new experience for me. It gave me a lot of positive energy. It was really a huge inspiration for me.

“It’s really nice to see such a champion being normal off court, and also telling jokes and being a little bit sarcastic. He’s the guy that everybody can take something from for themselves.”

Having initially found life as a grand slam champion a tough adjustment, Swiatek has embraced her status over the last few months, winning two titles and breaking into the top 10 for the first time.

“You never know what’s going to happen when you’re coming out on a court as a defending champion,” she said.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that. I’m really glad I could handle that pretty well and just play tennis, play a normal match without having in the back of my mind that I’m defending the title.

Tamara Zidansek celebrates her dramatic victory over Bianca Andreescu
Tamara Zidansek celebrates her dramatic victory over Bianca Andreescu (Christophe Ena/AP)

“It’s never easy to play against your best friend. You just try to block this friendship for two hours, just focus on the game. I think I’m doing that pretty well. It’s nice to have that skill.

“I feel like my game is better and better. My coaches were planning everything for me to have the peak of my shape right now. Hopefully it’s going to be here.”

The first big upset in the women’s draw saw sixth seed Bianca Andreescu lose 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-2), 9-7 to Slovenian Tamara Zidansek in an epic contest lasting three hours and 20 minutes.

Canadian Andreescu has been held back by repeated injury problems since winning her first grand slam title at the US Open in 2019 and this was only her second tournament since the beginning of April because of an ankle problem and a bout of coronavirus.

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Bianca Andreescu Iga Swiatek

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