Palma, June 14 (EFE).- Rafael Nadal, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery to check the left psoas lesion, presided over the graduation of 50 of the students from his Manacor academy this Wednesday, in an act at the which was accompanied by the world number one and recent winner of Roland Garros, the Polish Iga Swiatek, and in which the Spanish tennis player publicly congratulated the Serbian Novak Djokovic for winning his twenty-third Grand Slam title in Paris.
“I want to congratulate Novak on his 23 titles, a figure that seemed impossible to achieve; From here, personally, I convey my congratulations to him and those of the entire academy for what he has achieved in a sport as competitive as tennis, ”said Nadal, who plans to return to the courts in 2024.
The second most “great” tennis player in the history of that sport (22), also thanked the parents of the students of his academy, many of them present at the event for having entrusted “the education of your children to us”, Indian.
“For this center that trust means a lot, I hope we have lived up to it and I hope you have a successful future with the tools we have given you,” said Nadal, before introducing Iga Swiatek.
The Polish tennis player, winner of four Grand Slam titles, three of them at Roland Garros (2020, 2022 and 2023) and one at the US Open (2022), said that it was “a real honor” for her to be present at the ceremony graduation of the students of the Nadal academy, of whom he confessed his “admirer”, because he has “inspired” him.
“I congratulate you on your graduation; I know that you have made an effort, enjoy it a lot; thank you for inviting me to such a beautiful ceremony and academy”, said the first Polish tennis player to win a Grand Slam title.
The world number 1, who has just won her third Roland Garros on Saturday in Paris, was the godmother of a very special event for young tennis players and students and took over from Pau Gasol, David Ferrer, Ona Carbonell and Ricky Rubio, who accompanied Rafa at graduations in recent years (Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova did so electronically in 2020).
Nadal and Swiatek handed out the diplomas to the students of the 2023 promotion, taking pictures with each of them, before the event ended with the traditional tossing of the mortarboards into the air.