He was favorite, but he fell. Rafael Nadal suffered the law of the American Taylor Fritz on Sunday in the final of the Indian Wells tournament, in two sets (6-3, 7-6 [5]). The 35-year-old Spaniard remained on 20 consecutive victories, including a triumph at the Australian Open which allowed him to become the first man to reach the bar of 21 Grand Slam victories. But he was too diminished to hope to equal the record of 37 Masters 1000 titles held by Novak Djokovic, which would also have been his fourth title in Indian Wells.
“I was in pain, assured Nadal after his defeat, during which he called the physio twice. I have trouble breathing. I don’t know if it’s at the level of the ribs… When I breathe, when I move, it’s like pressing a needle. And it’s not just the pain, it’s affecting my breathing. »
Fritz touched too
The 3rd player in the world has been suffering since the end of his fierce semi-final against his young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz. Before the final, however, it was Fritz who seemed the worse off of the two. The 20th in the world (24 years old) had to quickly shorten his morning training, the fault of a recalcitrant ankle. The day before after dismissing the Russian Andrey Rublev, he had admitted to having hurt himself a little at the end of the match.
This pain did not prevent the native of San Diego from his first Masters 1000 and his second tournament on the ATP Tour, after the much less prestigious grass-court Eastbourne in 2019. He is the first American to triumph in the desert. Californian since Andre Agassi in 2001.