Plagued by physical problems, the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal suffered this Sunday an unexpected defeat in the final of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 against the American Taylor Fritz and ended his 20-win streak at the start of the season.
Nadal, who had to be treated several times for a chest problem, lost 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to Fritzdebuting in a Masters 1000 final.
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Undefeated in his last 11 ATP finals, Nadal succumbed in a dramatic duel marked by the wind and his physical limitations and those of Fritz himself, with ankle discomfort.
What happened?
Nadal was chasing his cugreat trophy of this season start, the best of his career at 35 years old, less than 24 hours after a three-hour battle against the young Carlos Alcaraz, in which he suffered the muscular problem.
“I gave my best in these last two weeks but this time it couldn’t be. Today it wasn’t possible but I fought until the end. I’m happy for that and for an exciting start to the season for me,” Nadal declared on the podium.
In the second set tie break, the Spaniard came within two points of forcing a third set but Fritz held on to become the first American to succeed in the Californian desert since Andre Agassi in 1988.
Born 160 km away from Indian Wells, the tennis player from San Diego (California) He put his hands to his head in disbelief after his triumph on the second largest court in the world.
Nadal, on the other hand, saw his streak of 20 wins in a row since the start of the year cut short, a mark only surpassed by Novak Djokovic, with which he had won three trophies.
With one of them, the Australian Open, he overtook Djokovic and Roger Federer in the race to be the tennis player with the most Grand Slam titles (21) in history. gbv/cl
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AFP
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