10:47 p.m
Nadal – Korda 6: 2, 1: 4
Strongly saved by Korda – the service winner brings him the deuce, then he risks everything in the rally, pulls the forehand cross with a lot of angle into the corner and follows up with a longline. Nadal’s return is gone and then the serve for the free point fits again.
10:45 p.m
Nadal – Korda 6-2, 1-3
Good luck to Korda! Nadal’s forehand is millimeters off – seen well by the line referee. Then the US boy pulls his backhand cross into the net and gives a break ball.
10:44 p.m
Nadal – Korda 6-2, 1-3
Korda has to be careful that he continues to defend the break. Now he falters again on the first serve and then comes under pressure against Nadal’s returns. A carelessly given forehand inside-out hurts twice as much at this moment.
22:42
Nadal – Korda 6-2, 1-3
But that’s what distinguishes a world-class player. Under pressure, Nadal first serves the ace to the outside and then a service winner afterwards. The Spaniard is on the board.
22:41
Nadal – Korda 6: 2, 0: 3
Nadal is currently a little off the roll. His serve rate is falling and falling, above all he scores far fewer points on the second serve than in the first round. The double fault at the debut could still be expensive.
10:37 p.m
Nadal – Korda 6: 2, 0: 3
Korda catches fire! In an impressive service game, he gives Nadal almost no chance, solidly serves the first and makes it 40-0 with three quick points. He can easily afford the small forehand error inside-out, because the service winner then gives him the 3-0 and confirms the break.
10:33 p.m
Nadal – Korda 6-2, 0-2
But then the American still gets his chance. Nadal gives the forehand longline under pressure to the side, then he gets stuck in the net. The 21-year-old got the early break out of nowhere.
22:32
Nadal – Korda 6-2, 0-1
It’s painful! Korda dictates Nadal from behind the baseline as he pleases, slowly fighting his way to the net and only has to field the volley – but with that he gets stuck in the net and misses the chance for two break opportunities. Nadal is back on 30 both.
22:28
Nadal – Korda 6-2, 0-1
Cool sock. From 0:30 make 1:0 in the second set. Nadal only briefly brings the serve back behind the net and Korda only has to put the felt ball in the field.
22:28
Nadal – Korda 6-2, 0-0
But Korda boldly hits back, forcing Nadal to make mistakes with two strong firsts and then serving the ace to the outside to make it 40:30.
22:27
2nd sentence
Korda is also allowed to open the second round. However, the US boy is now coming in badly again after Nadal briefly disappeared into the catacombs to change his shirt. The first two forehands land behind the baseline and he immediately faces another 0:30.
22:21
Nadal – Korda 6:2
And with another service winner, this time to the outside, Nadal confidently gets the first set after 35 minutes.
22:20
Nadal – Korda 5:2
Normally, Rafael Nadal can no longer take that away. Especially since the Spaniard continues to serve well – however, he now also makes one or the other slight mistake when Korda finds the length in the shots. After a service winner through the middle, however, there is a set ball for the Manacor bull.
10:15 p.m
Nadal – Korda 5:2
But then the service qualities of the American come through. With three service winners in a row, he turns the service game and at least fulfills the obligation, prevents the loss of the set for the time being and shortens it to 2:5.
22:14
Nadal 5-1 Korda
Korda only becomes dangerous when the first serve comes – but that comes far too rarely. Again Nadal is wide awake against two second serves and sends the returns back as direct winners.
22:12
Nadal 5-1 Korda
This is Nadal in its purest form – he calmly downplays this service game, serves well, first takes advantage of the free point and then sends his backhand longline into the open corner to make it 5:1.
22:10
Nadal 4-1 Korda
Korda misses the huge chance on the forehand return against the second serve behind the baseline and Nadal makes him pay. The Spaniard holds Korda well behind the baseline and then puts a buttery stop perfectly behind the edge of the net.
22:08
Nadal 4-1 Korda
And suddenly there are break chances for Korda on the board. He gets brave again, goes longline forward after a forehand, builds up on the net and provokes Nadal’s mistakes out.
22:08
Nadal 4-1 Korda
Korda puts pressure on the baseline for the first time and is promptly rewarded because Nadal takes his foot off the gas a little. The Spaniard is immediately punished and has to put his backhand into the net twice in distress.
22:04
Nadal 4-1 Korda
Finally an answer from the young challenger! Korda served himself to zero with four strong first serves to win the first game of the evening, or afternoon local time. Nadal can do little on the return this time.
22:01
Nadal 4-0 Korda
Nadal continues to play his opponent without a chance against the wall and teaches him a lesson. Korda doesn’t even know what’s happening to him. The Spaniard dominates almost every rally, has only conceded five points against himself and is 4:0 at 40:15 with a merciless forehand inside-out from the half field. The first sentence seems to have almost been decided after just under a quarter of an hour.
21:57
Nadal 3-0 Korda
Korda’s own serve continues to bring no luck. In five attempts he only hits one first – with which he also makes the point thanks to a strong serve and volley on the net. But including a double fault, nothing goes together on the second serve. As a result, Nadal is already strong in the return, immediately takes control of the rally and the number of mistakes made by the American continues to increase. Especially the forehand does not want to work at all with the son of Petr Korda.
21:53
Nadal 2-0 Korda
Korda has absolutely no rhythm in this match yet. Nadal keeps him in the game with a double fault, but then the US boy wants too much against the second serve and pulls him well behind the baseline. Nadal immediately confirmed the break and took a 2-0 lead.
21:51
Nadal 1-0 Korda
Nadal immediately gets a powerful return sent back to the baseline and no longer puts his own backhand in the field, but the Spaniard is immediately in the service game, serves the next first, forces Korda to make a forehand error and pops the first ace through the middle.
21:49
Nadal 1-0 Korda
Another forehand from Korda lands under pressure in the net, Nadal is immediately given three break chances. And the Spaniard can use it immediately because Korda makes the fourth forehand mistake, shoots the forehand cross from the half field clearly to the left and starts the match catastrophically.
21:47
1 sentence
Korda opens the match, but the young American doesn’t get any first serves and comes under pressure in the first two rallies, then makes the slight mistakes with the forehand. 0:30.
21:42
coin toss
Korda won the coin toss and chose to serve first. In a few moments, the US boy will serve after pounding.
21:25
stage 1
Daniil Medvedev more than lived up to his role as favorite and easily won in two sets against his Czech opponent in just 70 minutes. The court is already free and our match can start on time.
21:24
Head-2-Head
This duel has already happened once, in 2020 at Nadal’s favorite tournament, the French Open. The Spaniard easily won in three sets. Korda, meanwhile, only won four games in the entire match. Even on hard court, however, Nadal is now the big favorite.
21:22
corda
The young Sebastian Korda was still training with Rafa Nadal a few days ago, today he faces the Spaniard under competitive circumstances. For the 21-year-old, last year almost ended on the highest high of his career, but reaching the final at the Nitto ATP Finals was also a strong performance, even though the title in the final went to Carlos Alcaraz. But Korda has had a positive record so far in 2022, moving into the third round in Melbourne, as well as at the home tournament in Delray Beach. In Acapulco, however, he already failed at the beginning, but in the Davis Cup in the qualification he got an important win in the singles against the Colombian Nicolás Mejía. At the opener in Indian Wells he defeated Thanasai Kokkinakis for his best result in the Golden State. On the way to the top 30, the current number 38 in the world would have to shake a surprise win out of their sleeve today.
21:12
Nadal
Let’s get straight to the favorite in this match, Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard was a bit of a grab bag from injury early in the season but he silenced all critics. Not only did he win the preparatory tournament for the Australian Open – with an admittedly “weak” field – but also the subsequent Grand Slam, becoming the first player to ever win 21 major titles. The Spaniard wasn’t the top favorite despite the absence of Novak Djokovic, but Alexander Zverev failed early on and in a memorable final, the Manacor bull beat Daniil Medvedev with an impressive comeback from a two-set deficit. He then took a three-week hiatus before competing in Acapulco and winning the title there too – once again defeating Daniil Medvedev. So Nadal is still undefeated in 2022 and won all of his 15 matches (plus one walkover.
21:04
stage 1
In the largest arena of the facility, Daniil Medvedev is currently meeting the qualifier Tomás Machác, but is leading 6: 2, 2: 1 with a break in the second set. If the Russian keeps up the pace, it should be good news for our upcoming match, which will also be played at Stadium 1.
21:02
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the second round of the Indian Wells Masters, also known as the BNP Paribas Open. Rafael Nadal joins in and meets local hero Sebastian Korda. It starts at around 21:30 CET.