The Indian Wells Tennis Garden watched Rafael Nadal pull off one of his greatest comebacks on Saturday, but few watched with greater interest than the WTA’s No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek.
“It inspired me a lot,” she said on court after pulling off her own Houdini act against Clara Tauson, dispatching the Dane, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1. “I was thinking that if he could win against a guy who was serving that fast, and break him in the last few games, anything is possible.”
The 2020 Roland Garros champion wasn’t in quite as stick a situation as her Spanish hero, who roared back from 2-5 down in the deciding set to knock out American hope Sebastian Korda in a third-set tiebreaker.
An avowed superfan, Swiatek stuck around Melbourne to see Nadal capture his 21st major title following her semifinal exit in singles.
“I’m believing in myself and trying to do as he does.”
Still just 20 years old, Swiatek is only 18 months older than her teenaged rival but has seemingly lived a lifetime on tour since winning her own first major in the fall of 2020, playing a consistent sophomore season to qualify for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara and showing her mettle on all surfaces with a deep Australian Open run and WTA 1000 victory in Doha, extending her win streak to seven in a row after outlasting the No.29-seeded Tauson on Sunday.
Known for her steely focus and unshakeable perfectionism, Swiatek is starting to embrace the highs and lows a tennis match can supply, winning a pair of three-setters to reach the BNP Paribas Open’s fourth round for a second time in six months.