Iga eager to praise her idol

FRENCH Open champion Iga Swiatek was the guest of honour at the graduation ceremony at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca last week, even giving a speech and paying tribute to her idol.

Of course that was Rafa himself and Swiatek commented on something she spotted at Roland Garros that helped inspire her.

“For the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at one quote at Roland Garros in Paris,” Swiatek said.

“On Court Philippe-Chatrier it’s written, ‘The victory belongs to the most tenacious’.”

The young Pole then said that Nadal’s example has impacted her version of “tenacity”.

“I often have the feeling that sometimes when I’m playing or when I’m doing things off court, that I should do them better or I should seek perfection,” Swiatek said.

“But this shouldn’t be the sense. We should all focus on the process and giving 100 percent, no matter what you can give, because every day is different.”

Swiatek told the assembled guests and graduates of her admiration for Nadal as, as a youngster, she watched his matches, and particularly when he was not at his best, but overcame his struggles to win.

“These are the matches that inspired me,” she said. “So I hope you will be tenacious.”

ANOTHER tenacious sports star was also at Roland Garros, watching Novak Djokovic win his 23rd Slam.

NFL legend quarterback Tom Brady sat in the player’s guest box and was delighted to get a victory hug from Djokovic after he has secured victory over Casper Ruud.

PRIZE money at Wimbledon this year will be a record £44,700,000, an 11 per cent increase on last year and a 17% increase on the pre-pandemic Championships of 2019.

And the distribution is again supporting players in the early rounds, qualifying competition prize money up 14.5 per cent on last year, while main draw singles players losing in the first round will receive £55,000, up 10 per cent.

Singles champions and runners-up will receive £2,350,000 and £1,175,000 respectively.

The prize pool for the doubles events is up 10.7 per cent, while the wheelchair and quad wheelchair singles and doubles events have all risen by about 20 per cent.

“We are delighted to offer record prize money to the players competing at The Championships this year, with double digit increases across the majority of events,” Ian Hewitt, Chairman of the All England Club, said.

ROGER Federer has backed Novak Djokovic to keep winning Grand Slams “for a long time” after the 23rd major title of his career at the French Open.

“I thought what Novak did is incredible,” Federer said after the Roland Garros triumph.

“Honestly, it’s great for tennis, great for sports when tennis writes its own history and keeps on adding to it like we’ve seen with Serena Williams as well, Rafa then myself and now with Novak.

“I remember when I came on tour, and Pete Sampras reached 14 we thought ‘Okay, that one is gonna stay forever’. Then I went to 15, I eventually ended up at 17, and then we pushed each other to 20 – I don’t remember who was first – and then Rafa pushed it to 22.

“Then now Novak pushed it to 23 and he looks like he’s gonna keep on doing that for a long time still to come, which is great. And I wish him all the best.”

EMMA Raducanu is to donate all proceeds from her online tennis lesson to the LTA Foundation, a youth tennis program.

The 2021 US Open champion has been offering online tennis lessons on the Airwayz platform, with each lesson priced at $2,000 a session.

For the fee, subscribers receive individual coaching and get an insider’s look into her daily life and routine.

However, it has been confirmed by the platform representatives that 100% of the proceeds will be donated to programs run by the LTA Foundation.

BACK to Emma… but this time away from the tennis court, the former US Open champion may have a new ‘mixed doubles’ partner.

Raducanu has been pictured with Carlo Agostinelli, 22, the son of London-based American private equity dollar billionaire Robert Agostinelli.

Agostinelli junior is one-time head boy of posh English public school Harrow, who also played football – soccer – for Stanford University in California while studying there.

Father Robert was also linked to a consortium that tried to purchase Liverpool Football Club a few years back.

The pair were spotted in Mexico last month.

GREAT to hear Feliciano Lopez has been appointed tournament director for the Davis Cup Finals.

The group stage will take place from September 12-17 in four European cities followed by the last-eight event in Malaga, Spain on November 21.

“I have some special memories of playing in this competition so I am very happy to be taking a leading role in delivering these events,” Lopez, 41, said.

“As tournament director, my sole focus will be to build on the recent success of the competition and make it the best it can be for players and supporters across the world.”

NO Boris, but still a great lineup of talent on the BBC team covering Wimbledon.

Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, and Martina Navratilova have all been confirmed, with Clare Balding anchoring the presentation after taking over from Sue Barker.

Other notable names include Pat Cash, Tracy Austin, Annabel Croft, Tim Henman, Johanna Konta, Anne Keothavong, and Sania Mirza.

And it doesn’t end there … The panel of experts will include John Lloyd, Louise Pleming, Colin Fleming, Jo Durie, Peter Fleming, Liz Smylie, Dominic Inglot, Nick Monroe, Arvind Parmar, Todd Woodbridge, and Leon Smith.

And finally … Toy Story? Nah, More like Tennis Story.

American animation studio Pixar has lost been famous for creating many superb characters.

But now using the latest technology, MidJourney’s AI image creation tool has generated images of a number of sporting greats, including a number of tennis stars.

First, there’s Roger Federer, then Rafa Nadal and that headband, Serena Williams and sister Venus.

Finally, there’s an AI image of one Maria Sharapova.