"Winning against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same tournament, just crazy" - Iga Swiatek on Carlos Alcaraz's Madrid triumph
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has heaped praise on Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard's sensational run to the Madrid Open title last week.
Alcaraz, 19, defeated his idol Rafael Nadal and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in back-to-back matches before clinching the title with a straight-sets win against Alexander Zverev in the final. In the process, the Spaniard became the youngest champion in the history of the Madrid Open.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Italian Open in Rome, Swiatek described Alcaraz's run in Madrid as "crazy." She also revealed that she would watch the highlights of the Spaniard's campaign whenever she gets the opportunity.
"I honestly didn't watch any matches, but I want to watch highlights for sure. I'm going to do that. I didn't have time because, like, last couple of days have been really busy for me in terms of practicing. I'm going to do that for sure because what he's doing is amazing. Yeah, wow, like winning against Rafa and Novak on the same tournament, just crazy," the Pole said.
🏻
A pesar de llegar justo de preparación y ser difícil, tengo muchas ganas de jugar y jugar en casa ya que las oportunidades son pocas.
A tratar de hacerlo de la mejor manera posible 💪🏻
Nos vemos en Madrid 😉 https://t.co/tiD5m6lWle
"For sure it was inspiring" - Iga Swiatek on visiting Rafael Nadal's museum
During the press conference, Iga Swiatek also spoke about her experiences at the Rafa Nadal museum. The Pole, who visited the museum in Mallorca earlier this month, said she enjoyed looking at not only the Spaniard's achievements, but also those of other sportspeople like Fernando Alonso.
"For sure it was inspiring. Yeah, you could see all the trophies, which is amazing. Seeing numbers on Wikipedia is one thing, but seeing all the trophies, how consistent he was sometimes in some tournaments, it's amazing," she said.
The museum of @RafaelNadal in Mallorca is not only about tennis 😎
#ElPlan @rnadalacademy https://t.co/U1TuMHe3iM
"Actually I really like this museum. It was not only about Rafa and about tennis, but also about other sports. You could see, like, there was Fernando Alonso Formula 1 where he won world championships. Yeah, it was just interesting because you could see the sports, not only tennis, not only what Rafa did, so that's nice."
Swiatek will open her Italian Open campaign against a qualifier. The Pole has won the last four tournaments she's competed in and will hope to add another trophy to her collection ahead of Roland Garros later this month.