Iga Swiatek reveals how she hopes to emulate ‘all-surface GOAT’ Rafael Nadal
Iga Swiatek has expressed her hope to emulate Rafael Nadal’s prowess on all surfaces as she shed light on how she is working to evolve her game.
The Polish great, who has named Nadal as her idol, has previously revealed how the Spanish icon has shaped aspects of her technique and her mentality.
“It’s good to look at his forehand as an example, how he’s using this spin to make a difference,” Swiatek said in 2024. “Also his backhand is pretty flat. I think we have many similarities in that case.
“Overall, I’m his fan more because of how he behaves. This is something that I try to look up to more.”
Nadal won an astonishing 14 French Open titles — an all-time tennis record at a single Grand Slam event. The 38-year-old, who retired in November last year, secured 22 majors in total.
Swiatek has also enjoyed a rare level of dominance at Roland Garros, having collected four of her five Grand Slam crowns at the clay-court major.
The 23-year-old has won four of the last five editions of the clay-court major — a run that started with her maiden Grand Slam victory at the 2020 French Open.
In an interview with The Athletic, Swiatek argued that Nadal is the greatest player of all time on every surface as she made a comparison between her game and the Mallorcan’s.
“It’s just physics,” Swiatek said. “On clay, it’s going to be a bit easier because my topspin will jump higher and my movements will be maybe better than what other girls can bring with the sliding and changing direction. But on hard courts, I feel like I’m a good player as well.
“It was the same with Rafa. Everybody always talked about clay, but like he’s the GOAT (greatest of all time) basically on every surface.
“Also winning Wimbledon twice. Not every player can have these results on even one surface.
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“This is something that people are focusing on, and I am talking about this as well, because clay is where I have the most fun, but I love hard courts as well.
“And I feel like I have my weapons and I can use them. I want to be an all surface player for sure.”
The world No 2 also spoke about her work with coach Wim Fissette, who she hired in October last year to replace Tomasz Wiktorowski.
“We are working in a different way a little bit, in terms of getting back to my roots,” she explained.
“I feel like I can really be a great defensive player, but use my chances to be proactive, as I did a little better in 2022.
“So with Wim, we’re working on my footwork a lot, just movement and being able to get back up from really defensive, tough positions to still win a point.
“I feel like in Australia it has been working really well. And I felt the control over the ball and a lot of confidence because I knew that I had kind of nothing to lose… I can only go forward and use what Wim has brought to the team.
“Obviously with more time on the practice court also some changes in my game are going to come.
“You know, over the past few years, I learned how to be an aggressive player. And the player that uses the first chance in the rally to go forward… I always have to remember what is really my biggest weapon.”
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