ATP Masters Indian Wells: Taylor Fritz beats ailing Rafael Nadal in a curious final
The winner of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells isTaylor Fritz . The American defeated an ailingRafael Nadal 6: 3 and 7: 6 (5) in the final and thus ended the Spaniard's winning streak.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Mar 21, 2022, 01:19 am
For a long time it was not clear whether the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells could take place at all: Taylor Fritz was plagued by problems in his right ankle after his semifinal success over Andrey Rublev, but in the end the American decided against Rafael Nadal to compete.
Fritz couldn't really see much of his physical problems at first, the 24-year-old took Nadal's first service game and followed it up with another break two games later. Curious: While Fritz seemed to feel extremely comfortable on Center Court, Nadal was apparently struggling with pain. After his more than three-hour semi-final fight against Carlos Alcaraz, the Spaniard was not able to fully pull through with either the serve or the backhand.
Nadal managed a rebreak to make it 3: 5, but then immediately had to give up his serve and the first round. During the break in the set, the 21-time Grand Slam winner finally had his chest treated.
Nadal a little better, Fritz holds against it
The physiotherapist's work seemed to help a bit, but after a break to make it 2-1, Nadal immediately had to cope with another loss of serve. In a true marathon game, Fritz fended off four breakballs from his opponent and took the lead 3:2.
When the score was 4: 4, Nadal found another breakball, but missed a feasible passing ball. In the following game, the 35-year-old knew how to fend off a match point from his opponent, only to then miss two break opportunities. Despite this setback, Nadal then forced a tie-break.
Fritz keeps his nerve
In this Fritz quickly took a 3-1 lead, after nine points played Nadal was suddenly in the lead 5-4. But just at that moment, the 35-year-old made two serious mistakes that Fritz managed to turn into a 6:3 and 7:6 (5) win after two hours and six minutes of play.
Fritz not only ended Nadal's 20-game winning streak, but also secured the first ATP Masters 1000 title of his career. Nadal is now set to take some time off following his first loss of the season and is expected to return to the tour from April 10 in Monte Carlo.
The singles tableau in Indian Wells
iwmap