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Rafa Nadal’s announcement has left the sport in shock after the Olympics.

The realisation Rafa Nadal may have played his final professional tennis match is now sinking in for fans after the Spaniard announced he has withdrawn from the US Open. Nadal was unable to secure a dream medal for Spain alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the Olympics doubles with the duo crashing out in the quarter-final.

Earlier in the tournament, Nadal was also defeated by eventual gold medal winner Novak Djokovic in the singles with the duo competing in the 60th match of their rivalry. The contest against Djokovic was an eye-opener for many fans with the Spaniard only able to match it in short intervals against the No.1 seed.

Last year, the 38-year-old had hinted the Olympics could be the final tournament of his illustrious tennis career as he mapped out his season. And speculation is now growing it was his last professional match after his latest announcement.

Nadal opted to skip the Australian Open as he prepared his body for Roland Garros. He then opted to skip Wimbledon as he prepared for the Paris Olympics on clay. The 38-year-old has been battling injury for the last few years and has struggled to maintain momentum on the tour.

And Nadal’s latest announcement is quickly dawning on tennis fans. “I will miss those electric and special night sessions in NYC at Ashe, but I don’t think I would be able to give my 100% this time,” Nadal wrote. “Thanks to all my US fans in particular. Will miss you all and will see you another time.

“My next event will be the Laver Cup in Berlin.” Nadal confirmed he would play at the Laver Cup, which has only increased speculation he could go out at the exhibition tournament in a similar style as Roger Federer. The image of the legendary duo crying together at the Swiss icon’s retirement will go down as one of the most memorable moments in the sport’s history.

Rafa Nadal coy on pending retirement

After the Olympics, Nadal was pressed on whether he would appear at the US Open. The Spaniard was not confident he could back-up, which only adds to the speculation the Olympics was his last official event.

“Looks like not. But I’m going to let you know soon,” he said. “For me, now, I can’t give you a clear answer. I need some time, but for me, (it) looks difficult.”

Nadal has battled injuries in recent years and hasn’t seen the success tennis fans are so accustomed to for the Spaniard after more than 20 years in the sport. Nadal’s recent injuries include hip surgery in 2023 and abdominal muscle issues in 2024 that have seen him play only a handful of matches across the past two seasons.

The US Open is Nadal’s second-most successful tournament having won it in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019. Unfortunately, Nadal has only played the final grand slam of the year once in the last five years.

TENNIS

‘Our Calendar Is Crazy’ – Iga Swiatek Voices Concern Over Brutal Tennis Reality That Takes Physical Toll on Players

Winning titles is very tempting for any player, but what about the lingering stress when the time between tours is short? Tennis players have been raging over the crazy scheduling of their professional calendar for long. Players like Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff to former legend Andy Roddick have expressed concerns over players’ fitness, given they are required to play frequent tournaments. Adding her bits to the matter, Iga Swiatek opens up about her challenges before the upcoming US Open.

Swiatek won the French Open, then transitioned to the grass season, and then earned a bronze for Poland in the Paris Olympics. Within days of that victory, she had to attend the Cincinnati Open to keep her form intact for the calendar’s last Grand Slam, the US Open. Swiatek said, “Our calendar is crazy, probably the toughest one in sports“.

In a press conference for the Cincinnati Open, Swiatek further delved deeper into her statement and said, “There are sports that are really tough because, physically, you might get beat up. But most sports have four months off, sometimes even six. Our schedule is crazy, and it’s getting more crazy every year, which is scary. You just have to train wisely.“

For Swiatek, 2024 has been a hectic year. However, she has shown great promise by owning five tour-best titles this season. Swiatek won titles in Doha, Madrid, Indian Wells, Rome, the French Open, and a bronze in the Olympics

Cincinnati Open will be Swiatek’s first hard-court tournament since March. She expressed about treating it like a practice championship and revealed her strategy for the upcoming matches. While the world number 1 is usually very confident, this time, she is keeping a low expectation about her form on the surface.. Despite reliving her father’s ’88 Seoul Olympics moment in Paris, Swiatek expressed a difficult calendar for the tennis players. She played in the Olympics on clay and is now moving to the hard course for Cincinnati and the US Open. Given the very limited time window between these events, it has become crucial for her to maintain fitness.

Iga Swiatek revealed “taking it easy“ in Cincinnati

For any tennis player, moving from one surface to another in a short time is difficult. Swiatek mentioned at the Media Day for the Cincinnati Open, “We’re taking it easy, doing everything step by step. For sure, it’s not going to be perfect from the beginning but I had a couple days to really get used to the surface, so I’m trying to do the best job possible every day and entering the court next day knowing I can do something better,” she said. Swiatek’s statement expressed her concern over playing well in Cincinnati when she barely had some days to prepare for the hard surface.

“I’m going to treat it as a practice tournament, Not in a way that I don’t care but in the way that I want to implement all the stuff I’ve been practiced, and I think that’s the best approach for me,” Swiatek concluded.

For this her, hard work has no boundaries. Despite that, her statements showcase the intense pressure on tennis players to maintain their form by attending tournaments constantly. Athletes have crazy schedules and require utmost dedication if they want to succeed like Swiatek.

TENNIS

How Swiatek is finding her calm after a summer of nonstop chaos

CINCINNATI — World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is ready to get back to work. Following a whirlwind that began on European clay in April and intensified through the Paris 2024 Olympics, the 23-year-old Polish star has felt the pressure of her season grow week by week.

Now, with a bronze medal from Paris in hand, she’s embracing the chance to unwind and recharge in the relatively calmer atmosphere of the Cincinnati Open.

Cincinnati: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

“I literally felt after the Olympics that I need to kind of reset and also just focus on getting my technique back together and just grinding on court,” Swiatek told reporters ahead of the tournament, which begins on Tuesday.

“Here is the perfect place to do it. It feels a little bit less crazy, but on the other hand, even before the tournament, there are many people and a lot of fans. So you still feel that it’s an important tournament anyway.”

A semifinalist last year, Swiatek is the top seed in Cincinnati, the seventh WTA 1000 tournament of the Hologic WTA Tour season and the second of the North American hard-court summer. Along with the National Bank Open, which concludes on Monday in Toronto, the back-to-back WTA 1000 events wind the tour toward the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season at the US Open.

In a regular year, top players would have earned a bit of rest after Wimbledon before putting in a solid training block ahead of the current swing. But with the majority of players participating at the Olympics, preparation was cut short. Swiatek did not have time to stop home and repack.

Which means she still has all her Paris souvenirs in her bag:

“It was pretty stressful and it wasn’t easy,” Swiatek said, reflecting on her Olympic experience. “But I’m happy that I could leave Paris with a medal and with a lot of knowledge about myself. The most important thing for me was to learn from this experience.

“I was proud of myself and I was happy that I could deal with all this pressure and still get a medal. It wasn’t like a normal tournament, for sure.”

Swiatek can now breathe. Being able to focus on her daily practice and have the rest of her days free has already proven restful. Still, the challenge remains. She is a four-time champion at hard-court WTA 1000 events, but she has yet to make the final in either Canada or Cincinnati. She’ll be working on adjusting to the faster conditions while also getting accustomed to the lighter Wilson Regular Duty Balls, which the tournament has reintroduced this year.

“We haven’t played with these particular balls in two years,” Swiatek said. “I think they’re lighter. They lose heaviness after a while, because the hair from the balls is just gone after, like, 15 minutes.

“But I played with these in 2022. So you just need to kind of remember how it was. And with all the changes in the surface and the balls, you can’t expect that you’re going to just make constant progress. You need to focus more on adjusting. And that’s what I’m going to do now.”

When a reporter reminded the five-time major champion that she won the 2022 US Open with these balls, Swiatek looked embarrassed.

“I know,” she said. “I don’t know how I did that.”

This week, Swiatek is spending her 116th week as the World No.1. She captured her fourth Roland Garros title in May and has already won four WTA 1000 titles this season — in Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome.

Earlier this month, she became the first player to secure her spot at the WTA Finals Riyadh, where she will return as the defending champion. To have a chance at that title defense, Swiatek will first get back to basics.

“I know that the first tournament on hard court is not going to be easy,” Swiatek said, “so I’m going to try to treat it as a practice tournament, but not in a way that I don’t care — more in a way that I want to implement all the stuff that I practiced on. I think it’s the best approach for me now.”

GYMNASTICS

Simone Biles, Suni Lee back Jordan Chiles amid Paris Olympics bronze medal controversy

Simone Biles and Suni Lee came to the support of Jordan Chiles on social media as the American gymnast’s bronze medal win in the floor exercise is in limbo.

Chiles may end up having to return the Olympic medal after the Center of Arbitration for Sport ruled Saturday that her score must revert to the original mark because the U.S. did not file an inquiry with judges in time. The International Olympic Committee on Sunday determined that Chiles must return her medal, but USA Gymnastics appealed the ruling, saying it had video evidence showing coaches made the inquiry in time.

As Chiles wrote on her Instagram Stories over the weekend that she was heartbroken over the chaotic situation, Biles and Lee offered messages of support.

“Sending you so much love Jordan,” Biles wrote on her Instagram Stories. “Keep your chin up olympic champ! We love you!”

Lee wrote a loving message of support as well and took a swipe at Olympic officials over the debacle.

“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?? Completely unacceptable. This is awful and I’m gutted for Jordan,” she wrote. “I got your back forever Jo. (You) have all my flowers and you will ALWAYS be an Olympic champion.”

Team USA wrote on its X account, “Forever THAT girl.”

If Chiles is stripped of her medal, she will become only the third gymnast in history to have an Olympic medal stripped. The other two were China’s Dong Fangxiao and Romania’s Andreea Răducan, both of whom lost their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Răducan’s individual all-around gold medal was stripped after testing positive for a banned substance from cold-medicine pills given to her by a team doctor. China’s team all-around bronze was stripped after it was discovered Dong was just 14 years old in Sydney, which is two years too young to compete.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

GYMNASTICS

Jason Whitlock: Stop Pretending Simone Biles is the ‘Greatest Athlete Ever’

Jason Whitlock: “Simone Biles took second in the floor exercise, some woman from Brazil took first, and some woman from America took third, so everybody is celebrating this ‘all-Black’ picture of Simone Biles bowing in front of this Brazilian woman and saying ‘THIS IS AN ICONIC PHOTO! AN ALL-BLACK PODIUM!’… This is somehow celebrated as some great thing. It’s just a reminder to me of why I’m not watching the Olympics and why I’m not on-board with Simone Biles. I’m not a Simone Biles fan. She’s divisive, she’s a race-idolator, and she’s a race-bait victim. I’m just tired of everything being labeled as ‘historic’. How can an ‘all-Black’ podium [be historic?]. Have you seen the 100-meter and 200-meter dash photos for the last 100 years?? Have you seen the podiums for these boxing events?? ‘BUT IT’S GYMNASTICS!!!’… It’s not history, and it’s not unifying to be discussing sports in this way constantly. It was a turn-off to me. We’re provoking this type of mentality.

Put up the picture of Simone Biles getting interviewed [on the Call Her Daddy podcast]. Simone Biles’ feet don’t touch the floor. That’s a borderline midget. And we’re doing all this ‘OH, MY GOD, SHE’S THE GREATEST ATHLETE OF ALL TIME!’… Most of us don’t even understand gymnastics, we don’t know how it’s scored, we don’t know what’s good or bad, but we all pretend every four years like ‘OH, MY GOD! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE ATHLETE! SHE’S THE GREATEST! SHE’S JESSE OWENS! SHE’S SERENA WILLIAMS! SHE’S MICHAEL JORDAN!’… I just don’t like the little victimhood gimmick and I don’t like her persona.

Did you see the photo of the 800-meter dash of one White woman blowing past seven Black women? It’s quite a picture and people have been celebrating this, and it’s been ‘OH MY GOD, THEY’RE RACIST!’… If this was reversed – if there was one Black woman and seven White women were chasing her, everybody would be sending out ‘THIS IS HISTORIC! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! OH, MY GOD, A BLACK WOMAN HAS BEATEN SEVEN WHITE WOMEN!’… You’re inviting White people to do the same. You’re being played. You’re being pitted against people on racial lines.”

Watch Jason Whitlock of Blaze TV’s Fearless take exception to the Simone Biles hyperbole that’s been pumped out during the 2024 Paris Olympics, as Whitlock says social media race baiters need to stop ‘pretending’ that the decorated American gymnast is the ‘greatest athlete of all time.’

Check out the segment above as Whitlock details the off-putting racial divisiveness of the Olympic coverage, and how he’s turned off by Biles’ ‘victimhood gimmick.’

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GOLF

Tiger Woods explains how to hit one of his go-to shots around the green

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.

Tiger Woods has just about every shot imaginable in his arsenal. Whether the situation requires the ball to go high or low, left or right, the 15-time major winner has the shot in his bag to get it done.

Watching Woods work around the greens you can see his creativity really shine. Rarely on the course does he hit just a stock shot with his short game. Every scenario is a little bit different, and each requires specific adjustments in order to have the best chance of chipping it close.

One of Woods’ go-to shots around the greens comes in the form of a “draw chip.” And in today’s edition of Play Smart, we’re going to hear from the man himself on how to hit it.

How to hit Tiger’s draw chip

Sometimes getting the ball close from short range requires a little bit of creative thinking. For Woods, that comes in the form of shaping the ball left or right to get the ball close.

For a shot that needs to move left-to-right — or one that might be affected by a tough lie — he turns to his patented draw chip.

Executing the shot is simple. According to Woods, he opens the face just a touch, keeps his hands forward at address and then when the club head is approaching impact, he tries to close the face down and move his body forward.

“I’ll get more spin,” Woods says. “But I’m also ensuring that I don’t fat it.”

Next time you’re around the greens and are worried about catching the ball a little heavy, try focusing on hitting a draw chip. You’ll be amazed how easy it is to execute — and how useful it is to have in your arsenal.

TENNIS

How Agassi, Rafter, Roddick & Nadal sealed the ‘Summer Sweep’ in Cincy

Winning in sport is tough, but when you get on a roll it can become a habit. In years gone by, winning became exactly that for Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal across the North American hard-court swing.

During their careers, those four greats all completed one of the ATP Tour’s unique accomplishments at the Cincinnati Open. Since the ATP Masters 1000 series began in 1990, they are the only players to have backed up a title run at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers by claiming the trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Ohio that same season.

Cracking the winning code consecutively in Canada and Cincinnati has proven tough even for some of the ATP Tour’s most iconic stars. Yet former World No. 1s Agassi (1995), Rafter (1998), Roddick (2003) and Nadal (2013) all dug deep win both hard-court events in the same season. All except Agassi also went on to win the US Open in the same year.

Ahead of the 2024 edition of the Cincinnati Open, which begins on Monday in Mason, Ohio, ATPTour.com looks back at the four champions who have tasted back-to-back Masters 1000 success in North America.

Andre Agassi – 1995
In 1995, Agassi arrived in Montreal seeking to consolidate his position as World No. 1 at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers. Two weeks and 10 wins later, the American stood on centre court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center having become the first man to win the Canada-Cincinnati Masters 1000 double.

The American had already captured hard-court titles earlier that year at the Australian Open and in San Jose, Miami and Washington. The fact he prevailed from the Montreal and Cincinnati fields was therefore not a huge surprise, yet the way Agassi clinched his back-to-back Masters 1000 crowns was almost as impressive as the novel achievement itself.

The 25-year-old dropped just two sets across 10 matches in Montreal and Cincinnati, and he defeated Top 10 opponents in both finals. After notching his third victory of the year against World No. 2 Pete Sampras to successfully defend his title in Canada, Agassi brought some of his best tennis to his homeland with a dominant run in Cincinnati.

With a week between the events, Agassi arrived in Ohio rested and refreshed. His only moment of peril came when he was forced to recover from being bagelled in the second set of his second-round clash against former World No. 12 Alberto Berasategui. Agassi did so, and eventually overcome two-time defending champ and World No. 5 Michael Chang 7-5, 6-2 in the final.

Agassi notched another ATP Tour crown in New Haven before his 26-match winning streak came to and end against Sampras in the US Open final. Despite that disappointment in New York, he could look back on a stunning summer in which he had picked up his sixth and seventh Masters 1000 crowns, respectively, en route to securing a slice of ATP Tour history.

Patrick Rafter – 1998
Rafter climbed to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time in July 1999, famously holding the position for just one week. Rewind a year and it was his standout results in the 1998 North American summer that built the foundations for his rise to the top.

The way Rafter flipped the script within two of his tougher Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalries was key to his double triumph in North America. After notching just his second win in eight tour-level meetings against Richard Krajicek to become the first man in 10 years to win the Canadian Masters 1000 event without dropping a set, he breezed into the Cincinnati final for the loss of just one set. Awaiting the Australian was Pete Sampras, who had triumphed in the pair’s eight previous encounters.

Even if he was full of confidence from claiming his maiden Masters 1000 crown in Toronto, Rafter may have quickly felt in familiar territory against Sampras after the American charged to the first set for the loss of one game. Yet the calm and collected Australian retained his composure to battle back for a 1-6, 7-6(2) 6-4 victory and ensure he emulated Agassi’s historic ‘Summer Sweep’.

“Well, winning becomes a habit,” said Rafter, who beat Sampras again a month later en route to the title at the US Open, after his Cincinnati win. “You just go out and play and things work for you. Every decision you make comes off. But then, you know, you can lose it very quickly as well. At this stage, the decisions I made are working. You can ask Andre that. You can ask Pete that, he’ll probably say the same thing.”

Andy Roddick – 2003
An all-American final between two good friends had home fans gripped at the 2003 Cincinnati Open.

Enjoying the summer of his career until that point, the fast-rising 21-year-old Andy Roddick powered into the championship match in Ohio without losing a set. The World No. 7 deployed his huge serve and powerful all-around game with all the confidence of a man who had arrived in Ohio fresh from downing Roger Federer and David Nalbandian to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 title in Montreal.

On the other side of the net was Roddick’s long-time friend Mardy Fish, who had spent his junior days living with the Roddick family in Boca Raton, Florida, where the pair trained together. Although Roddick later acknowledged he found it tough competing against a good friend in such a big match, he eventually cut through the tension after saving two championship points to pull off a 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4) triumph.

“It’s tough,” reflected Roddick after outlasting Fish across two hours and 29 minutes. “I wouldn’t have wanted this to end any other way, but definitely as he was walking off, I felt for him. I’d have no problem if I didn’t really know the guy or if I just said ‘Hi’ in passing sometimes, but to know someone pretty well and know what they’re thinking and what they’re going through, it sucked, I guess.”

Just as Rafter had in 1998, Roddick went on to win the US Open in September, defeating Nalbandian once again before he beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets to win the first and only major of his career.

Rafael Nadal – 2013
Nadal’s 2013 season was one of the greatest of his historic career. The Spaniard won 10 tour-level trophies — bettered only by the 11 he collected in 2005 — while he tallied a staggering 75-7 win-loss record.

However, when the Spaniard arrived in Montreal in 2013 he was aiming to bounce back from a disappointing first-round Wimbledon exit to Belgian Steve Darcis. Nadal cruised through his first three matches in Quebec and then met Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. Two months after their five-set epic at Roland Garros, Nadal once again beat the Serbian, this time 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2). With his victory, Nadal recorded his first win against Djokovic on hard courts in three years and set himself up to down home favourite Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-2 in the final for his second Canadian Masters 1000 crown.

The following week in Cincinnati, Nadal set about ensuring that his Wimbledon disappointment quickly became an even more distant memory. He survived a three-set scare from then-22-year-old Grigor Dimitrov before he beat Federer 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals. It was the Spaniard’s third consecutive win against his great rival. Nadal then beat Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals and John Isner 7-6(8), 7-6(3) in the final to lift the trophy in Cincinnati for the first time.

“It means a lot, being able to win two straight titles, two Masters 1000 on hard, back to back, is just amazing for me,” said Nadal, who remains the most recent player to complete the ‘Summer Sweep’. “I never did something like this in all my career. So it was an emotional moment for so many different facts.”

Like Rafter and Roddick, Nadal went on to win the US Open in September, his 13th major crown and second at the US Open.

TENNIS

Rafael Nadal retirement date may be imminent as wild rumours swirl

Rafael Nadal has yet to confirm whether the Olympic Games was his latest event contending for a major title, yet there are increasing rumours that he may be about to call time on his remarkable career.

Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz’s high-profile run in the men’s doubles at the Olympics came to an end with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to American fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram last week.

The 14-time French Open champion gave a lingering wave to all sides of Court Philippe Chatrier, but it seems very likely not to be just Roland Garros that does not see Nadal on court again.

Asked whether he would head to the United States, where events building up to the US Open are already underway, the 38-year-old said: “It looks like not but I’m going to let you know soon. For me now, I can’t give you a clear answer, I need some time. But for me it looks difficult.

“We’ll see if I keep playing the normal tour. But of course I will be supporting him from home and wishing him all the very best every single time. Even if I keep playing or not, I love tennis.

“If that’s the last time, it’s an unforgettable feeling and emotions. They give me the love and the support every single second that I have been on court. It’s super, super special to feel that in particular in this place.

“At this stage of my career, I play for feelings, I play for emotions more than for results.

“I won enough in my career, much more than what I ever dreamed. For me, it’s about enjoying different experiences, and that’s another lifetime experience, to share with Carlos, an amazing player who I think is going to be of course one of the best of the history of this sport.”

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Nadal backed up those comments by pulling out of the US Open and he has yet to confirm whether he will play in any more regular tour events in 2024.

The void on his schedule is fuelling rumours that his appearance at the Laver Cup may be his final bow as a professional player.

That would see him follow in the footsteps of his great friend and rival Roger Federer, who called time on his great career at the Laver Cup two years ago.

Federer has even hinted he may come out of retirement to play alongside Nadal in a doubles match at the Laver Cup, following the script that saw the duo team up for Federer’s final match as a professional player.

This year’s Laver Cup takes place at the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany from 20 until 22 September and former world No 1 Andy Roddick believes the event could be the perfect stage for Nadal to bow out.

“The Laver Cup could be a celebration. We’re all better when he’s around. Hopefully we’ll see him in the big finals again. I don’t know. It feels like this could be the end,” he said on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast.

“I’m certainly not like the greatest players of all time. I can’t figure it out, but I don’t know if he wants to compete for titles in Bastad. I don’t know if it’s his lane. We’ll see.

“We don’t know what he’ll do, we’re not in his inner circle, but I find it hard to believe that he’ll put in the effort and try to give Roland Garros another chance. But I’ve been wrong about him in the past and any analyst who has an opinion is just guessing.”

TENNIS

‘I Shouldn’t Give Up’- Iga Swiatek Turns Emotional Over Nostalgic Memory With Father That Propelled Her to Greatness

Iga Swiatek fulfilled her father’s unaccomplished dream of winning an Olympic medal with a podium finish in Paris. The Olympics held special meaning for Swiatek, largely because of her father’s deep connection to the Games. Tomasz Swiatek, Iga’s father, had participated in the Seoul Olympics of 1988 as a rower but had failed to win a medal.

After claiming the bronze medal, Swiatek opened up about the profound love and admiration she has for her father. In an interview with Visa after the Paris Olympics, when the host displayed a picture of the world number one and her father and asked Iga about the picture, she got a bit emotional. Looking into the picture, the 23-year-old highlighted her love for her father and his involvement in her tennis career.

She stated, “That’s actually a photo that was taken this year, basically because of him you know I’m playing tennis. In tough moments, my dad was there to keep going and to show me that it’s still worth it and I shouldn’t give up.”

Aware of Iga’s fear of water, the father-daughter duo chose tennis as her career, rather than rowing and it turned out to be the correct decision. Swiatek is not only a four-time French Open champion now, she is also the no. 1 player in the world. But amidst chasing WTA crowns and Grand Slam victories, the ambition of winning an Olympic medal never faded. Iga was always keen to win a medal for her nation at the Summer Games.

“It’s amazing. Honestly, me and my sister were raised in this spirit that the Olympics are the most important tournament. That’s why it wasn’t the easiest tournament. I’m happy (my Dad) was here to see it. This is for sure a great place for me to be and play. I’m happy that besides Roland Garros titles, I could add another success to it,” Swiatek said after winning the bronze medal.

During the Paris Olympics when Iga lost the semifinal and it was met with a wave of criticism—ranging from questions about her strategy to her composure—her father stepped in to offer support. Amidst the scrutiny, he stood by her side, defending her achievements and reminding everyone of her dedication and her effort toward reaching the podium.

Iga Swiatek’s father stands against the wave of criticism

After she failed to make it to the finals and lost the opportunity to win a gold medal at the Olympics, critics immediately questioned Swiatek’s plans. While the Pole received support from her father, her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski also came to her defense. The world no. 1 bounced back immediately to find herself a spot on the podium, beating Anna Karolina in straight sets in the bronze medal match.

Swiatek’s father said, “An Olympic medal is something special. I will say, perversely, that anyone who thinks it’s easy should try it themselves. It’s easy to judge from an armchair, but it looks different from the inside. It’s perceived differently in the stands or in front of the TV.”

Swiatek’s love for her father is evident in how she cherishes his role in her journey and how his unwavering support has been a cornerstone of her success. Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on Swiatek’s equation with her father? Let us know in the comment section below.

TENNIS

Naomi Osaka reveals ‘confidence’ from Iga Swiatek clash as she sets hard-court rankings target

Naomi Osaka revealed that her French Open battle versus Iga Swiatek gave her “confidence” she could compete on any surface – but has her sight set on a huge rankings leap back on her beloved hard courts.

Back at Roland Garros, the former world No 1 pushed Swiatek to the brink in a titanic round two clash, missing a match point in a three-set tussle.

Despite defeat, the four-time major winner admitted that that result gave her “confidence” for future tournaments on clay and also on grass, another surface she has struggled.

But, after returning to hard courts in Toronto, Osaka conceded she is looking forward to her favourite part of the season.

She said: “You know, that Iga match did wonders for my confidence, I’m not going to lie.

“I’m optimistically looking forward to clay next year. Grass, I’m looking at it from a distance, but I’m willing to learn, I’m going to watch a lot of tapes of Serena. That’s kind of a next-year thing.

“I think for me now I’m really focusing on US Open, Asia, that’s kind of the areas that I thrive, so I’m, I don’t know, looking forward to it.”

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Naomi Osaka is honoured to be an advocate for working moms and body positivity

Elina Svitolina reveals chats with ‘motivated’ WTA mums Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki

Osaka’s Canadian Open campaign was mixed, beating Ons Jabeur heavily in round one before a loss to Elise Mertens.

She will now be in qualifying action at the Cincinnati Open this week, before returning to the US Open at the end of the month.

Two of her four Slams have come in New York and the other two came at the Australian Open, cementing her place as a leading hard-courter of her generation.

And she hopes that the lessons learnt from Toronto can power her through a strong summer – and ultimately back into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings at some point.

“Yeah, I mean, you know what, shoot for the stars,” added the 26-year-old.

“I, unfortunately, have always suffered from perfectionism and I doubt myself a lot, but I think going through this process and having really tough losses, I’ve learned a lot about myself and I learned that I really love this game, and am willing to do whatever it takes to get to where I feel like I deserve to be.

“I know there’s going to be a lot more tough losses, but hopefully I’ll be back in the top 10.

“I think playing Ons the other day and playing Mertens, I played two really quality opponents, they were both quite different, but I’m hoping that I’m able to establish my game and grow more confidence in that.

“I think the hard court for me is where I feel the most comfortable, and honestly, I had a lot of fun.”