World No. 4 Rafael Nadal has had his best start to the season and the Spaniard despite having some flaws in his games that leave him in almost beaten positions, his strength and ability to bounce back from any situation see him win the match as he is now 17 – 0 for the season with all results on hard courts where he has often been criticized for not being very dominant.
With 3 titles from 3 tournament appearances so far, Nadal is in the 4th round of the Indian Wells Masters 2022 where he seeks his fourth Indian Wells title and also the 4th of his season. While he continues to amaze fans with his game, he has chosen to take the joy out of fans in Miami, as the 21-time Grand Slam champion has opted not to play the Masters de Miami 2022.
While Nadal had hinted that he will skip some tournaments, his decision to play in Acapulco and Indian Wells gave hope that the Spaniard could continue on Tour without a break. However, he has come clean about his decision to skip Miami after reports surrounding an injury at Indian Wells were linked to his retirement from Miami.
“I didn’t play in Miami for the last two years. I am almost 36 years old. I played much more than I expected at the beginning of the season. It’s not good for my body to have quick transitions from different surfaces. From clay to hard, well, from hard to clay. If I play in Miami, I won’t have time to rest or make a quick transition to clay.
“I need to push very hard from the start, so that’s dangerous for my foot, for my knees. I need to do those transitions step by step. I can’t make drastic changes like I’ve done in the past, so that’s why I decided to stop here and have, like, three weeks before the clay season starts for me.” Nadal said after his third-round win over daniel evans where he won the match in straight sets.
Rafael Nadal one win away from breaking Roger Federer’s record
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With the victory over Evans, Nadal became the first man to win 400 matches at the ATP Masters tournaments. He also extended his record to 17-0, tying Roger Federer and Pete Sampras for the best start to the season since 1990. With a fourth round clash with Reilly Opelkaan 18th consecutive victory will put Nadal ahead of Federer and Sampras and the Spaniard will be left alone in third place with the best start to the season.
In relation : “She has less self-confidence, less confidence and potential,” the former World No.1 says, explaining why Serena Williams won’t win another Major.
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Novak Djokovic he currently holds the top two spots with a 26 match win streak in 2020 and a 41 match win streak in 2011 being the records that see the Serb at the top of the list. If Nadal wants to win the title in Indian Wells, he will become the second man to win more than 20 matches to start a season behind Djokovic.
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