"She's doing amazing things & winning every event she plays, it's good to have people like her having success" - Rafael Nadal on Iga Swiatek

Rafael Nadal kickstarted his title defense in Rome with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 win over John Isner in the second round on Wednesday. The Spaniard, who recently suffered an injury, is hoping to get sufficient court time under his belt this week before heading to Roland Garros.

In his post-match presser, Nadal was asked for his thoughts on World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and her exceptional results over the past couple of months. Swiatek, who shares a great camaraderie with the 35-year-old, is on a 24-match winning streak after having triumphed in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Stuttgart.

Rafael Nadal expressed his admiration for the Pole's winning streak and lauded her for completing the rare Sunshine Double (winning back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami).

"She's doing amazing things," Nadal said. "Playing amazing and winning every single event she plays, I think the last four in a row. Winning Indian Wells and Miami in a row, it's something difficult. I'm just happy for her. She is a very spontaneous and natural girl. It is good to have girls like her, good people like her having success."

The World No. 4 proceeded to shed light on his mindset going forward. A rib injury sidelined him for over a month after Indian Wells and he is looking to make up for lost time in Rome. He admitted to being in a "rush" to regain full fitness in order to be ready for the claycourt Major.

"Well, I am in a little bit of a rush, I have to find the best feelings as soon as possible," he continued. "I need to recover things that I missed because of the injury, of course. I need to work as much as I can to be ready in a couple of weeks. But at the same time, the medium term, long term, I need to keep going."

"Tomorrow I'm going to have a tough test with a great player" - Rafael Nadal on facing Denis Shapovalov next

Denis Shapovalov and Rafael Nadal met at the 2022 Australian Open

In the press-conference, the 21-time Grand Slam champion gave his thoughts on his next match against Denis Shapovalov. Rafael Nadal leads the head-to-head 4-1 over the Canadian. Their last meeting took place at the Australian Open earlier this year, where Nadal survived a five-set thriller.

Shapovalov also took Nadal the distance in Rome last year, but suffered a defeat after squandering two match points. Nadal remarked that he was "lucky" to win the match, but asserted that his primary focus on Thursday will be to improve his game.

"Last year I was super lucky," Nadal remarked. "Was a match that he had in his hands plenty of times. For me it's about trying to improve every single day. Tomorrow is another day with a chance to play better. That's the main goal today: be better and try to reach a higher level every single day. Tomorrow I going to have a tough test with a great player. Is an opportunity for me to keep trying. That's what I going to do."