Indian Wells (dpa) – After a lot of hard work, Rafael Nadal made it into the Indian Wells final and came a big step closer to his fourth tournament victory this year.
The tennis star from Spain won the semifinals at the Masters in Indian Wells on Saturday against his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz 6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 3 and will now appear in the final this Sunday (not before 11 p.m. CET / Sky). Taylor Fritz from the USA. He had previously won 7: 5, 6: 4 against Andrei Rublev. “I’m very happy to be in the final, it means a lot to me and now I just have to keep going,” said Nadal.
The win against Alcaraz was his 20th this year, he is still undefeated in 2022. The winning streak earned him victory at the Australian Open, his 21st major title in men’s tennis. Nadal also won the ATP tournaments in Melbourne and Acapulco.
The match was marred by violent gusts of wind in the second set. Because paper and towels were flying around, there were several short breaks in the game. “The problem in tennis is we don’t have a rule for it,” Nadal said. He doesn’t have any major problems with the wind and sees the circumstances as a challenge. However, the constant interruptions “make it unplayable for me”.
In the third set, the 35-year-old had to be treated by a physiotherapist on the pitch. He had chest pains, Nadal reported later. “I still feel it a bit, but there are still many hours until tomorrow. I hope it won’t be a problem.”
Nadal could win a Masters for the 37th time, Fritz is still waiting for his first win in a tournament of this category. The only direct duel between the two so far was two years ago in the final in Acapulco. Nadal then won 6: 3, 6: 2.