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Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek received their respective ITF World Champion awards on Saturday, July 8, amid the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.
Nadal won his fifth ITF Men's World Champion award, this time for his stellar 2022 season. The Spaniard won two Grand Slams, among other titles, last year.
Nadal, who is currently sidelined as he is still recovering from his injury, shared a message with his fans and well-wishers. The Spanish legend thanked the ITF for the award and reflected on his 2022 season.
"I am very sorry for not being able to share this evening with all of you, but for medical reasons, I am not being able to be here," Nadal said. "I can't thank the ITF enough for this award, which means a lot to me because 2022 has been one of the most special years of my life."
Nadal called his 2022 Australian Open win "one of the most emotional ones" of his career as it was completely unexpected. He also touched upon his French Open win and said that because of all these achievements, 2022 was very special to him.
"In terms of my sports career, the title in Australia has been one of the most emotional ones of my career without a doubt because it was completely unexpected," Rafael Nadal said. "Then what happened in the Indian Wells with the injury and all this happening before Roland Garros. I finally achieved the trophy again, so a big surprise for me. There was a lot of suffering, but also enjoyed the process, that make this 2022 one of the most special years of my career."
The WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was also crowned the Women's ITF World Champion for the 2022 season. The Pole won two Majors, the French Open and the US Open, among other titles.
In a message to her fans, Swiatek said that all of this recognition will only motivate her to work even harder.
"Hello everyone, I want to thank you all for this beautiful award. I am really happy that all the work that I have putting on court and off off-court is being appreciated and all this is even inspiring to work even harder," Swiatek said.
Rafael Nadal won four titles in 2022
Rafael Nadal reached five singles finals in 2022, winning four of them. The 2022 season was one of the most successful for the Spaniard in recent years.
He kicked off his season with the ATP 250 event in Melbourne, which he won by beating Maxime Cressy in the final. He followed it up with another title at the Australian Open, where he got the better of Daniil Medvedev in the final.
The former World No. 1 won his third consecutive title at the Acapulco Open in Mexico. He beat Cameron Norrie in the summit clash to lift the trophy.
Nadal then reached the final of Indian Wells but lost to Taylor Fritz in the final. He won his last tournament of the year at the French Open, where he defeated Casper Ruud to win the title.
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