"Today I am your fan, but in 10 years I will be your rival" - Iga Swiatek receives amusing message from young fan during Warsaw Open
World No.1 Iga Swiatek is on a roll at the 2023 Warsaw Open. She advanced past Nigina Abduraimova, Claire Liu, and Linda Noskova to face Yanina Wickmayer in the semifinals.
The home favorite led Wickmayer 6-1, 5-2 in Saturday's second semifinal, but was unable to complete the victory as the match was called off due to darkness. It took her another day to defeat the Belgian, 6-1, 7-6(8-6) to set up a title match against Laura Siegemund.
However, an interesting thing happened during the match, a little fan was seen putting up an amusing hoarding, which also demonstrated the little girl's enthusiasm for tennis. The message read, which was posted on Reddit:
"Iga, today I'm your fan but in 10 years I will be your rival"
The 22-year-old Pole is chasing her fourth title of the year at the WTA 250 event in her homeland. This also marks Swiatek's second appearance at this prestigious tournament.
She made it to the quarterfinals of the Warsaw Open last year, but faced a formidable opponent in eventual champion Caroline Garcia. The event was held on clay in 2022.
"I had a heart rate of 120" - Iga Swiatek's father reveals his nervousness while watching Pole's French Open final live
Iga Swiatek was denied an easy win by Karolina Muchova in the 2023 French Open final. The Pole emerged victorious after surviving an emotional rollercoaster of a match.
Muchova tried her best to stop Swiatek, but the Pole held on to clinch her fourth Grand Slam singles title and her third French Open title overall. The Czech also became the first player to take a set off the 22-year-old in any of her Grand Slam finals to date.
Tomasz Swiatek recently told Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita that watching his daughter play live was different from watching her on television. He said that he was nervous during the match and added:
"I experienced the Roland Garros final strongly. There are matches when I can be very nervous. It's different at home, in front of the TV, when sometimes I can just cover my face and differently at the match. Sitting on the stand in Paris, I had a heart rate of 120, and it was not appropriate for me to get up and leave"