Nadal gives another lesson in endurance in his debut in Indian Wells

In another survival exercise in his legendary career, Spaniard Rafa Nadal staged a spectacular comeback on Saturday to beat young American Sebastian Korda in his Indian Wells Masters 1000 debut.

Nadal, the tennis player with the most Grand Slam titles in history, overcame a 5-2 deficit in the final set to prevail with partials of 6-2, 1-6 and 7-6 (7/3) in two hours and game average.

“Today I was very lucky to get through, honestly,” Nadal acknowledged. “I accept it and I have to do better because I haven’t played well.”

“He got a bit more nervous and made some mistakes,” he said. “It’s the same for everyone. If someone says that he doesn’t get nervous to win a match, either he’s lying or he doesn’t care about this sport.”

“I played a very good game, I got the best of me, I put him in a difficult situation. But he did what he does best and he always comes back and fights,” acknowledged Korda, one of the great promises of American tennis at 21 years old. .

Nadal, 35, remains unbeaten after 16 matches in this fabulous start to the season, with a memorable triumph at the Australian Open.

“This streak was not an added pressure,” he said. “I would say the opposite. The pressure comes when you have been losing games and you have to win.”

With 21 Grand Slam titles under his belt, surpassing Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in that race, Nadal was greeted with a standing ovation by the almost 16,000 fans present at Indian Wells, the second largest tennis court in the world.

This same Saturday Nadal gave up competing in the Miami Masters 1000, which starts on March 21, within his strategy of physically dosing himself this year.

Nadal, who has lost all five of his finals in Miami, is trying to take care of the chronic injury he suffers in his left foot and will dedicate himself to preparing for the clay court season.

“I can’t extend my calendar much, everyone knows that my body is as it is, especially my foot (…) If I make additional efforts it may be the end for me,” he explained.

Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 of the season, could bring him a possible semifinal match against Russian Daniil Medvedev, the new world number one, whom he beat in Australia coming back from two sets down.

Before new battles for the big tournaments, Nadal tries to conquer his fourth title in Indian Wells, where Korda, a very close rival, put him on the ropes in the first match.

The son of former Czech tennis player Petr Korda and Nadal have shared training sessions the last time the Spaniard has competed in the United States.

The younger brother of golf stars Nelly and Jessica Korda had no chance in the first set, which he started by giving up a break and saw escape in just 35 minutes.

Nadal was firm with his service, especially the second serve, and managed the points as he pleased while waiting for his opponent’s error.

In the second set, the lanky player from Bradenton (Florida) shook off his nerves and raised his level of play against a Nadal who was trying to adapt to the hot conditions of the desert Indian Wells.

Under the gaze of his father, Korda overwhelmed the Spaniard with precise and aggressive blows that made the stands vibrate.

Nadal tried to turn the page at the start of the deciding set, but Korda was still relentless and was the first to break to take a 3-2 lead.

After overcoming the crossroads in Melbourne, Nadal again refused to give up even in the face of a 5-2 deficit.

Korda served in two games to win but, faced with pressure and resistance from Nadal, the clash was decided in a tie break.

“At 5-2, I started to play a little differently. Maybe the nerves got to me a little bit,” Korda acknowledged. “He changed the way he played a little bit. He stopped missing, got closer to the line, I made some easy mistakes, and he took advantage of that.”

“He is an incredible fighter. Probably one of the best fighters of all time,” he acknowledged.

Visibly physically diminished, Nadal took advantage of his service and the errors of his young rival to come out of the challenge again.

His rival in the third round will be Britain’s Daniel Evans, number 29 in the ATP, who on Saturday beat Argentina’s Federico Coria 6-2, 6-0.

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