Emotions Flood Out for Iga Swiatek as Idol Rafael Nadal’s Retirement Triggers Honest Sentiments
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!
