Rafael Nadal makes his presence felt at Australian Open 2025 thanks to unlikely Iga Swiatek choice

Iga Swiatek was pictured seeking motivation ahead of her 2025 Australian Open campaign- within the pages of Dominic Bliss's book about Rafael Nadal titled - The King of The Court. The book is described as "the complete guide to one of the greatest tennis players of the 21st century."

The 23-year-old Pole is no stranger to success herself - a five-time Major winner in her own right, with four French Open titles to her name. Her clay court success mirrors that of Rafael Nadal, who famously strung together 14 Paris wins between 2005 and 2022.

In a post shared by the official X handle of the tournament, Swiatek was seen holding Dominic's book about the 22-time Grand Slam winner.

Currently, the World No. 2, Swiatek will be looking to improve on her previous Australian Open showings. She managed the semifinals in 2022, where she was comfortably beaten 6-4, 6-1 by Danielle Collins, and last year, Swiatek's campaign was prematurely cut short in the third round by a three-set loss to Linda Noskova. That defeat ended an 18-match winning streak for the Pole.

Swiatek has made no secret of her admiration for Rafael Nadal, particularly when the legendary Spaniard announced his retirement in 2024. The 23-year-old said that Nadal was her "biggest inspiration" and an "amazing person off the court".

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Iga Swiatek called Rafael Nadal her 'biggest inspiration' following the Spaniard's retirement

2025 Australian Open Previews - Source: Getty

Iga Swiatek has made no secret of her admiration for Nadal before, particularly when the legendary Spaniard announced his retirement last year. In an Instagram post shared on October 11, 2024, Swiatek said:

“You were and still are the biggest inspiration that I ever had in tennis and the reason why sometimes I got extra motivated and kept pushing myself. Thank you for that and thank you for being such an amazing person off the court as well. Your humility is something that is not so often [seen] when you see other athletes succeeding. You're the one that always stayed honest with himself and true to himself. Thank you for being a really good person. I hope you're going to enjoy the other part of your life and hopefully maybe some other career, because the sky is the limit for you now and I hope you will spend a lot of time with your close ones and your family.”

Iga Swiatek comes to the 2025 tournament off an impressive showing in the United Cup, where she helped her Polish team to the final, winning four of her five singles matches, and only losing to Coco Gauff. She'll be hoping that Rafael Nadal's influence will see her through to the latter stages of the Melbourne tournament this time around.

For his part, the Australian Open was Nadal's least successful Major, although he managed to grab the title in 2009, beating Roger Federer in a five-setter, and again in 2022 with a victory over Daniil Medvedev, again over five sets.

Iga Swiatek will begin her hunt for her maiden Australian Open title with a first-round clash against Katerina Siniakova on Monday, January 13.