Indian Wells Final 2022 was played between Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz. The game didn’t fail to deliver master-class tennis from both players.
However, at the end of the match, Taylor Fritz, 24, finished the tournament of his life by holding his nerve in the tightest moments to upset Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(5).
Taylor Fritz in the process won his first Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells.
How did Rafael Nadal lose to Taylor Fritz?
Going into Indian Wells final match, Rafael Nadal was tipped as the favourite and it’s not surprising due to his form in 2022.
Fritz suffered another setback in Saturday’s semi-final when he tweaked his ankle. Things got worse when he aborted his practice hours before the biggest match of his life.
When he arrived on court, all eyes settled on the blue tape rising up from the white sock on his right foot, it’s obvious he has not fully recovered.
However, Fritz rose to the moment.
He opened the match attacking relentlessly off both wings, unloaded on forehands whenever the opportunity presented itself and combined with seamless serving to quickly establish a 4-0, double-break lead.
With every passing game, Fritz got better and it looked like he was too hot for Nadal to handle.
In the second set, Nadal fought with everything he had and he stood on the verge of pushing Fritz into a nervous third set numerous times.
However, Fritz was able to withstand all that Nadal had for him and at the end of the day, he emerged victoriously.
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He will now leave Indian Wells as the world No 13 and, most importantly, a Masters 1000 champion: “Winning this tournament especially, Indian Wells, this is one of those childhood dreams that you just never even think could come true,” said Fritz, who is from California. “I just keep saying ‘no, no, just no way it’s real.’”
Nadal’s great run that saw him record a spotless 20-match winning streak with three titles, including the Australian Open has now come to an end.
The Spaniard has withdrawn from the Miami Open and he will now return to Spain in order to recover and prepare for an imminent clay-court season.
Few will look forward to facing him there as he’s been able to prove his dominance there.
Indian Wells final 2022 has now been concluded. in the women’s singles, Iga Swiatek further built on her exceptional start to the season.
She defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 to win her second consecutive WTA 1000 title and move to 20-3 (87%) this season.
Rafael Nadal might have lost the India Wells final of 2022 to Taylor Fritz but that has not taken away his legacy in the sporting world.
Source: Koboinfo
