“I’m sad”
“I wanted to do it perfectly in front of sand”said Nadal. “I’m sad because I wasn’t able to fight properly. Those feelings are hard, every day, but especially in a final it’s very, very ugly.” He was undefeated for 20 games this year, had his 21st at the Australian Open. major-Victory and thus the record in men’s tennis and also won the ATP tournaments in Melbourne and Acapulco – all after problems with his foot that had completely disabled him for months.
“It’s a big day for him”
He said his foot would never be 100 percent again before the start of the Masters in the Californian desert, but he can now deal with it and trust his body again. That was until he had to be treated on the pitch late in the semi-final against his 17-year younger compatriot Carlos Alcaraz the night before. There were further interventions by the physio against Fritz. Because of the short time between the two games, he does not yet know exactly what the problem is, said Nadal. “It’s hard for me to breathe”, he reported. Nevertheless, he sometimes scored crazy points against Fritz, who in turn played extremely well.
As a fair sportsman, he had not mentioned his obvious complaints in the acceptance speech on the pitch and congratulated Fritz on his first win on the ATP tour. Also in the press conference, it was important for Nadal to emphasize the importance of the moment for his opponent. “It’s a big day for him, I hope he enjoys it.”
Fritz: “It’s one of those childhood dreams”
Fritz is the first American to win at Indian Wells since Andre Agassi in 2001. At 24, he is also as young as Novak Djokovic was when he won in 2011. “I’ll have to hold back tears for any subsequent interviews. It’s one of those childhood dreams, winning this tournament here in Indian Wells, that you don’t even think could come true,” said Fritz, who comes from California, at the first reaction on the court to the great cheers of the spectators in the second largest tennis stadium in the world.
He himself had physical problems and wasn’t sure until shortly before the game whether he would be able to play at all. “I can’t begin to say how incredible it is that I was able to play today, how I could play, my pain was so great”he reported about the problems with his ankle, which had surfaced during the warm-up.
When he finally used the second match point in the tie-break after Nadal had chased a ball on the net against all expectations when the score was 5: 5, Fritz sank on his back and stretched his arms and legs. “I lost those matches against the big boys my whole life and it always felt like they were unbeatable,” he said. “It’s an honor just to be on the pitch with him, I grew up watching him.”
Source: dpa