It will not be the Holland of 74 but… Reef Nadalpilcha and game through, it’s the new clockwork orange…
The Spanish Rafa Nadal came back from an adverse 2-5 in the third set against the American Sebastian Korda and achieved an epic victory (6-2, 1-6 and 7-6) to continue his winning streak (16-0) in 2022 and advance to the third round of the Indian Wells tournament.
The one from Majorca lives the best start to the season of his careerwith 16 wins in 16 games, titles at the Australian Open, Melbourne and Acapulco and continues to offer tests of character and improvement.
Not even going down 2-5 in the third set, with two breaks behind, was enough to end Nadal’s faith, competitiveness and courage, who sealed another comeback for his long collection and prolonged his journey in the Californian desert.
Nadal greets Korda after a great game. (EFE)
He recovered the breakages and ended up imposing himself in two hours and 29 minutes Korda, one of the brightest young talents in American tennis, which allowed him to reach the 399 Masters 1,000 tournament wins. He will seek against the British Daniel Evans to seal his victory number 400, an achievement never recorded in the history of tennis.
“The normal thing in a match like this is that you lose 90 times out of 100. But if you give up, you are going to lose 100 out of 100. If you are there, you have a 10% chance,” Nadal said at the press conference after his victory. “I thought I had lost and in Australia I had similar feelings. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to keep trying or keep fighting,” he added.
Rafa Nadal got off Miami
Nadal, number 4 in the world ranking, will not play the Miami tournament, as confirmed by the organization, and after Indian Wells, where he won his first match, he will focus on preparing for the campaign on clay.
Nadal, who has not lost a single match of the 16 he has played this year, is absent from the Miami Open presented by Itau, which will be played at Hard Rock Stadium from March 23 to April 3.
”Without a doubt, we will miss Rafa. He has a huge following here in South Florida, and we look forward to seeing him back in Miami next year,” tournament director James Blake said.
Nadal plays full court. (AFP)
The Australian John Millman will take Nadal’s place in the Miami draw, a tournament that the Spaniard has not played since 2017 and has never won.
Nadal, champion of 21 Grand Slam tournaments (more than anyone in history), plans to start the campaign on clay at the Masters 1,000 tournament in Monte Carlo, which will be played from April 10 to 17, and then he will participate in the in Barcelona, at the Masters 1,000 in Madrid and Rome and, finally, at Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season, after having already won the first, at the Australian Open
Sunday: what is coming for the Argentines
On court 5, Diego Schwartzman (14th), the main reference of Argentine tennis in singles, debuts in the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells vs. the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (70th) for the second round (not before 5 pm). In addition, on field 9, in the third shift, Facundo Bagnis (82nd), who has just beaten Swiss Henri Laaksonen, will go against South African Lloyd Harris (32nd). Both on ESPN. For his part, in doubles, Federico Delbonis -in a duo with the British Cameron Norrie- will meet the Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and the Englishman Neal Skupski.
Saturday’s results at Indian Wells
Men Second round
Daniil Medvedev (RUS/N.1) defeated Tomas Machac (CZE) 6-3, 6-2
Gael Monfils (FRA / N.26) and Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 6-3, 6-4
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP/N.19) a Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3, 6-3
Roberto Bautista (ESP/N.15) a Jeffrey Wolf (USA) 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/5)
Cameron Norrie (GBR/N.12) a Pedro Martínez (ESP) 6-3, 6-3
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO/N.18) to Fabio Fognini (ITA), who did not show up
Jenson Brooksby (USA) a Karen Khachanov (RUS/N.25) 6-0, 6-3
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE / N.5) and Jack Sock (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/5)
Rafael Nadal (ESP/N.4) to Sebastian Korda (USA) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7/3)
Daniel Evans (GBR/N.27) a Federico Coria (ARG) 6-2, 6-0
Reilly Opelka (USA/N.17) a Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 6-1, 6-4
Denis Shapovalov (CAN/N.13) a Alejandro Davidovich (ESP) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Jannik Sinner (ITA / N.10) and Laszlo Djere (SRB) 6-3, 6-3
Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) to Lorenzo Sonego (ITA / N.21) 6-3, 6-4
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) a Federico Delbonis (ARG / N.32) 6-2, 6-2
Casper Ruud (NOR/N.8) a Christopher Eubanks (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2
Women Second round
Paula Badosa (ESP / N.5) defeated Tereza Martincova (CZE) 6-2, 7-6 (7/4)
Sara Sorribes (ESP / N.32) and Kaja Juvan (SLO) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Leylah Fernandez (CAN/N.18) beats Amanda Anisimova (USA) 2-6, 7-6 (7/0), 0-0 and quit
Shelby Rogers (USA) a Jelena Ostapenko (LAT/N.10) 7-5, 7-6 (9/7)
Marie Bouzková (CZE) and Jessica Pegula (USA / N.14) 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS/N.21) a Naomi Osaka (JPN) 6-0, 6-4
Markéta Vondrousová (CZE / N.30) and Magdalena Frech (POL) 6-1, 6-3
Anett Kontaveit (EST / N.4) and Kristína Kucová (SVK) 6-4, 6-1
Maria Sakkari (GRE / N.6) and Katerina Siniaková (CZE) 6-3, 7-5
Petra Kvitova (CZE/N.27) a Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4
Elise Mertens (BEL/N.20) a Marta Kostyuk (UKR) 6-2, 6-1
Daria Gavrilova (AUS) and Ons Jabeur (TUN/N.9) 7-5, 6-7 (0/7), 6-4
Victoria Azarenka (BLR / N.13) to Astra Sharma (AUS) 6-3, 7-5
Elena Rybakina (KAZ/N.17) a Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 6-1, 7-5
Viktorija Golubic (SUI / N.31) and Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Jasmine Paolini (ITA) a Aryna Sabalenka (BLR/N.2) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
