Rafael Nadal is into the Indian Wells final after battling through the windy conditions to win an exciting battle of the Spaniards 6-4 4-6 6-3 over young counterpart Carlos Alcaraz. The 18-year-old has previously been compared to the world No 4 by multiple tennis pundits and even the man himself. But Nadal showed why he hadn’t yet been defeated so far in 2022 as he extended his match-winning streak to 20-0 in the three hour and 12 minute battle.
It was an up-and-down first set as the hotly-anticipated master-vs-apprentice matchup between Nadal and Alcaraz delivered. After winning the coin toss and electing to serve, the 18-year-old got off to a perfect start as he broke Nadal to 15 and managed to cement his lead in a 12 minute, six-deuce game after saving five break-back points.
But the 21-time Grand Slam champion didn’t go down without a fight and went on to win the next four games on the bounce, leading by a break himself at 4-2 before the world No 19 fired back to get things level once more. Alcaraz showed why he is such an exciting young prospect as he continued to save more break points from 0-40 down in the next game but Nadal continued to threaten his serve and managed to break and take the set on his fourth set point, leading 6-4 after 64 minutes.
Carrying his momentum into the second set, the world No 4 started with a love-hold as the wind started to pick up, playing into the 35-year-old’s strengths. Both players’ time between serves crept up well over the 25 second maximum as they struggled to serve in the conditions and a number of towels flew onto the side of the court as Nadal, Alcaraz and the crowd all held the breath when Nadal’s trademark waterbottles started to wobble on the sidelines.
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The windy conditions prompted a spell of breaks as the teenager struck first to lead 3-2 before Nadal responded with an immediate break back but wasn’t level for long as Alcaraz took another lead for 4-3. The strong winds forced umpire Nacho Fortadell to ask the crowd to pick up “all papers and plastics” to prevent things flying onto court before Nadal could be heard conversing with him in Spanish.
It was a fourth break in a row as the 35-year-old managed to get himself back on serve as the balls started flying in every direction as the wind whipped through Stadium 1. Play was stopped momentarily multiple times as the chair umpire was forced to come onto the court and fix parts of the net that had blown off, and the ATP Supervisor could be seen arriving on court to monitor the situation.
Alcaraz managed to get the fifth successive break in a 19 minute and 42 second game on his seventh break point and give himself the chance to serve for the set. At the change of ends, Nadal was deep in conversation with supervisor Gerry Armstrong but returned to the court as the 18-year-old managed to stop the run of breaks and hold for 6-4 to force a decider after an hour and 14 minute set.
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Nadal managed to hold serve for the first time in four service games as he opened the third set with a 1-0 lead. The pair continued to hold with the 35-year-old forced to save three break points in an 11 minute game for 3-2 before calling the trainer out for what appeared to be his upper back at 4-3.
The world No 4 clinched the first and only crucial break of the final set in the very next game, giving himself the opportunity to serve it out at 6-3. After more than three hours, Nadal managed to extend his winning streak for the season to 20-0 with a 6-4 4-6 6-3 win over his young counterpart.
Nadal will face Taylor Fritz in Sunday night’s final after the world No 20 overcame seventh seed Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-4 in the first semi-final to reach his maiden Masters 1000 final.