“It worries me” Rafael Nadal might have a delayed start to Clay season after chest pains in the Indian Wells finals


“It worries me” Rafael Nadal might have a delayed start to Clay season after chest pains in the Indian Wells finals

Rafael Nadal

Back in the Top-3 of the ATP rankings, Rafael Nadal was unfortunate to not make it with a trophy as he lost in the finals of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters to Taylor Fritz. Fritz became the first American since Andre Agassi in 2001 to win the Indian Wells title as the 24-year old defeated Nadal 6-3, 7-6(5).

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The defeat also ended Nadal’s winning streak of 20 matches since the start of the season having won 3 titles during the period including the 2022 Australian Open. Having already decided that post-Indian Wells, he would play directly on Clay, the Spaniard wished to take home his 4th title of the season but it was not his day.

Apart from the defeat, Nadal had some difficulties in breathing as he felt chest pain and even called the trainer and doctor in between the sets. The player later revealed that he had been experiencing difficulty since the previous night and there was a chance he would have forfeited the match, but he decided against it and go for winning the title having played brilliantly so far.

“Honestly, I wanted to make it perfect before Clay. I have been very grateful but I am sad today because I was not able to compete. This is tough to have these feelings especially when you are in a final. It’s very ugly. But in sport, it is not talking about the past, we need to talk about today, and today it is a difficult day for me, tough and sad.

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“But as you know, I am not that type of person who goes down or goes very up emotionally. I am very stable. The last two months have been amazing and unforgettable, very emotional, I enjoyed things that I thought could never live again a few months ago, so it’s been amazing and now it’s a moment to try to solve this problem as soon as possible and start on Clay.

“It is a part of the season that I enjoy playing, of course, every event is so special for me. I hope to be ready for it, the only thing that worries me now is about what’s going in there and what I have to do to recover and how long will it take,” said Nadal during the press conference being visibly uncomfortable throughout the interview as well.

“It’s his day, we don’t need to hide that in my problems” Rafael Nadal urges to focus on Taylor Fritz’s win

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

With the focus shifting more towards his physical condition that Fritz’s win, Nadal asked the reporters to not overshadow the youngster’s maiden Masters title with his problems, showing great sportsmanship and appreciating the success of his opponent who stopped from matching Novak Djokovic‘s record of 37 Masters titles.

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“It happened yesterday night and just at the end of the match last night and I finished late yesterday and played in the morning, so you can imagine I had little chances to do anything, not even a chance to check what’s going on there. But that’s it, all I can say is it’s tough to breathe for me and it’s painful and uncomfortable when I try to breathe.

“But it’s not the moment to talk about that even if it’s obvious that I was not able to do normal things today. It’s a final, I tried I lost against a great player and I think it’s not the day to talk about what’s going on in me, it’s his day and we don’t need to hide that in my problems,” said Nadal.

Also Read: One of those childhood dreams that you just never think can come true,’ Taylor Fritz left in tears after a historic clash with Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells