It’s Rafa way or the highway for Nadal convert Swiatek

Iga Swiatek will start her bid for a second title at the Madrid Masters now fully immersed in RafaWorld after hiring a former collaborator of the King of Clay as her coach.

The one-time world No. 1 heads into battle in the capital under the tutelage of Francisco Roig, who most recently tried to guide Emma Raducanu in a short-lived collaboration.

Swiatek is fresh off a training block at the Nadal academy on the island of Mallorca and keen to test out her new coaching setup in a tournament stress test.

The 22-year-old who won the Madrid title in 2024 admitted that having Nadal around during some of her training produced some unaccustomed nerves

“First 15 minutes of practice, I was so tight,” Swiatek said on Monday prior to her start. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, how should I play? He’s watching, he’s right there, you know.

“Rafa gave Francis more space to coach me, From time to time, he was giving me tips and also telling me some stories, how he struggled with some stuff and how he managed to work on them and what were his solutions,”

The WTA elite player appreciated the fresh insight: “It was really nice to get that perspective. It was still a big challenge to have two new people on the court and start playing on clay after hard court. 

“Honestly, it was probably one of the best practice weeks I had before a clay-court season. So I’m really happy that I could experience that.”