Rafael Nadal sends touching message to Iga Swiatek after her Wimbledon triumph, encourages Amanda Anisimova after crushing loss

Rafael Nadal has extended his wishes to Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova for their Wimbledon women's singles finals. The 22-time Grand Slam champion congratulated the Pole for her victory, while penning an encouraging note of support for the American.

Both Swiatek and Anisimova displayed some brilliant tennis on their way up to the finals. The former was on cruise control throughout the event, dropping only one set on her way to the finals. On the other hand, Anisimova was just as impressive, taking down World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka on her way to her first ever Grand Slam final.

On Saturday night, Iga Swiatek and the American faced off against each other on Centre Court. Swiatek was an overwhelmingly dominant force, clinching a 6-0, 6-0 win in under an hour. Reacting to the match, Rafael Nadal took to his Instagram story to share a snap of the Pole holding the Venus Rosewater Dish and wrote,

“Congrats, @iga.swiatek! Be proud @amandaanisimova! Grand Slam finalist.”

Rafael Nadal himself lifted the Wimbledon trophy twice, once in 2008 and once in 2010.

Iga Swiatek reflects on her maiden Wimbledon victory

Swiatek reflects on her Wimbledon victory (Image Source: Getty)

Iga Swiatek entered the Wimbledon Championships on the back of a shaky run in her clay court season, where she failed to defend her French Open title. Grass has repeatedly proven to be a difficult surface for the Pole, but she established her dominance in England from the very beginning.

After an easy win over Polina Kudermetova in her opening round, Swiatek was pushed the full distance by Cathy McNally in her second round match. However, the 24-year-old went on to clinch straight set wins throughout the rest of the tournament. After the victory, Swiatek expressed her surprise at her performance, saying,

"Honestly I didn't even dream (of winning Wimbledon) because for me it was just way too far. I feel I'm already an experienced player after winning the Slams before, but I never really expected this one, so I'm going to thank my team because I feel like they believed in me more than I did.”

The Pole also congratulated her opened for her performance over the last two weeks, saying,

“I want to congratulate Amanda for an amazing two weeks. No matter what happened today, you should be proud of the work you’re doing, and I hope we’re gonna play in many more finals here and other tournaments — you have the game for that, so congrats to your team as well.”

With this win, Iga Swiatek has now claimed major titles on all three surfaces, having previously won the French Open and the US Open. Next year, the tennis star will head into the Australian Open looking to complete a career Grand Slam.