Iga Swiatek has called Rafael Nadal her “biggest inspiration” and “an amazing person off the court” following his retirement announcement.

She has won three more times at Roland-Garros since then and has become an all-conquering force on clay, just as Nadal was on his favourite surface over a far longer period.

In a tribute to Nadal on social media, Swiatek said: “You were and still are the biggest inspiration that I ever had in tennis and the reason why sometimes I got extra motivated and kept pushing myself.

“Thank you for that and thank you for being such an amazing person off the court as well. Your humility is something that is not so often [seen] when you see other athletes succeeding.

“You’re the one that always stayed honest with himself and true to himself. Thank you for being a really good person.

“I hope you’re going to enjoy the other part of your life and hopefully maybe some other career, because the sky is the limit for you now and I hope you will spend a lot of time with your close ones and your family.”

Sabalenka also described Nadal as an “inspiration for everyone” after watching his retirement announcement video.

“He’s inspiration for all of us, for the next generation, for current players – he’s a legend.

“As he said actually there, everything has the beginning and the end. We’re all going to be there. I’m really happy for what he was able to achieve. He was an inspiration for everyone. He’s a hard worker. He definitely had so much love for this sport.”

“Obviously, I’m a fan of him. I know we’re technically like co-workers, but I’m a fan. How he treated me as a fan is something I remember more than his wins, more than the things he did. I would like my legacy to look like that.

“You can win the amount of trophies and everything, but people remember who you are and how you made them feel. That’s how I try to remind myself when I’m doing fan interactions or with anybody, to leave a nice impression because I know how that goes a long way.

“I just felt things he would do, he went out of his way.”