“I thought I was screwed today, same as in the Australian Open final,” Rafael Nadal reveals his pessimist mindset during his Indian Wells opener
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Rafael Nadal
Rafal Nadal extended his winning streak to 16 matches by defeating Sebastian Korda in the second round of the Indian Wells 2022. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Spaniard as he had to come back from the brink of defeat to win his second match against the American in as many meetings, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3).
After winning the first set with ease, he was completely outplayed in the second as Korda put on a brilliant display to force a decider. Nadal looked down and out in the third set as he was down at 5-2. His perfect start to the season was under threat, then Nadal pulled off a phenomenal comeback, eerily akin to his epic comeback at the Australian Open finals earlier this year, to win the match.
Despite his stunning comeback, Nadal was a bit frustrated with his performance and remarked it was one of his worst performances of the year. Korda put on an incredible display of groundstrokes and his brilliant all-court play to trouble Nadal, who was still getting adjusted to the desert conditions.
“I feel very lucky today because I probably played one of the worst matches of the year. He(Korda) played very well, he was very aggressive. But he was able to put pressure on the return and with my forehand, I was unable to damage him at all. But it’s one of those days that things are going in the proper way, like at the beginning of the season, Sometimes, you win matches like this no,” he said during his on-court interview.
“I thought I was screwed today. It was the same in the Australian Open final. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop fighting and trying. In this situation, you’ll lose 90% of the time. But if you don’t try, you’ll lose 100% of the time,” he added.
“I need to play better“- Rafael Nadal disappointed with his performance
Nadal said he was lucky to get through today and will have to work on his game plan before his next round clash. He will next take on 27th seed Dan Evans in the third round. The duo have squared off against each other once before, where Nadal got the better of the Brit in straight sets at the 2019 Canadian Open.
“I don’t know, I was super lucky today to be through, honestly. Accepting that, I need to play better because I didn’t play well. I will work tomorrow to try to be ready for after tomorrow. Just try to keep going and to put things a little bit more difficult for the opponent. “Good thing tomorrow is a day off. I need to keep practicing… Another fantastic feeling was being able to win that match. It doesn’t matter what way,” he said during his post-match presser
Also read: “Total boys club,” Reilly Opelka slams ATP for being a ‘circus’
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