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World No. 1 Iga Svitek, along with her cat, played Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s doubleheaders at the Laver Cup. On Friday, Federer meets Nadal for his final match. Swiatek, who was watching the match from home, was not the only one interested in watching Federer’s match. “This is tough,” Swiatek captioned her post.
This is hard…#LaverCup pic.twitter.com/GaEck3TifE — Iga Swiatek (@iga_swiatek) September 23, 2022
Federer and Nadal eventually lost to Jack Sock and Francis Tiafoe. After the match, Federer and Nadal became emotional and broke down in tears.
Swiatek had the opportunity to play mixed doubles with Nadal
Swiatek, 21, grew up watching and mirroring Nadal. A week before this year’s US Open tournament, USAA organized a charity event for Ukraine. The event featured a match where Swiatek and Nadal shared the same side of the court.
For Swiatek, it was a dream come true as she went from idolizing Nadal to partnering in doubles. “It was amazing,” Swiatek told Vogue. “A couple of years ago we played singles at Roland Garros which was actually a birthday present from my team.
[Laughs.] But to be able to play two mixes from the same side of the court, and especially to be able to use our voices together for such a great cause – to help people. There was a moment when I stopped and thought about how long it’s been to get here, and it’s truly a dream come true to do that.
Rafa is a great person both on and off the court and he inspires me a lot, especially when I watched him in the Australian Open final this season. It gave me more motivation and more composure on the court when I really needed that, so I’m grateful to be able to spend some time around Rafa.
