MADRID, 14 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal was accompanied by the WTA world number one, the Polish Iga Swiatek, at the graduation ceremony of the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar this Wednesday, with a total of 49 young students and players.
Nadal presided over the ceremony addressed to families, teachers and young students, and in his speech he congratulated Serbian Novak Djokovic, recent Roland Garros champion for staying at the top of ‘Grand Slam’ titles (23).
“Three days ago Roland Garros ended. First of all, I want to congratulate Novak Djokovic for having achieved something that had not been achieved before in men’s tennis, reaching 23 Grand Slam titles. These are numbers that relatively few years ago seemed impossible and he has achieved it, so many congratulations for having achieved something so difficult in a sport as competitive as tennis”, he pointed out.
On the other hand, Nadal was delighted to have Swiatek in Manacor, “someone who has always proven to be a good example for the sport.” “I want to congratulate all the students, I know it is a happy day, but also a sad one, because I imagine that all the changes in this life are difficult to accept. They take time, uncertainty, doubts that are good, they make us awake, they make us be aware of improving in every way”, said the Pole.
“I hope you leave here with the necessary tools to face the future, whatever it may be. In the end, I’m not a person who gives a lot of advice, I’m more in favor of things being learned by daily examples. I’m just going to give one: give yourself opportunities. This is the reality, don’t get frustrated when things don’t go well the first time, don’t get frustrated when you’ve been trying for a while and things don’t work out,” he added.
The Polish tennis player, who won her fourth Grand Slam last Saturday and her third title at Roland Garros, also wanted to stress the importance of mental health. Swiatek herself was unable to launch the mortarboard with the rest of the students at the end of the ceremony, since she finished her studies two years ago, but she was unable to graduate in person due to COVID.