Nadal Comes Back From Brink To Crush Korda’s Dream

Rafael Nadal entered his 15th BNP Paribas Open with a 15-0 record in 2022, his career-best start to a season. He needed a great escape to keep that streak intact against Sebastian Korda on Saturday with a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3) victory.

The American held a double break advantage at 5-2 in the third set in Indian Wells and twice served for the match. But just as in the Australian Open final, Nadal managed to turn the match around after looking down and out against an inspired opponent.

“I feel very, very lucky today to be through, honestly,” said the fourth seed, who credited Korda for his aggressive play. “Sebastian was playing some fantastic tennis and I’m sorry for him. He had chances, but that’s tennis. He’s very young, he has an amazing future. I wish him all the best.”

Nadal’s streak of 13 straight sets won dating back to the Aussie Open final was snapped, but the three-time Indian Wells champ denied Korda a famous victory against his idol with another clutch performance down the stretch. 

Two perfectly placed passing shots helped Nadal get back on serve at 5-5 in the third, and the Spaniard was the steadier player in the tie-break as he won the final five points of the match.

“I didn’t have my best feeling today,” Nadal said. “Good thing tomorrow is a day off. I need to keep practising… Another fantastic feeling being able to win that match. It doesn’t matter what way.”

Playing at Indian Wells for the first time since 2019, Nadal raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, immediately taking to the desert conditions. But Korda was hitting the bigger ball in set two and for much of set three, doing heavy damage with his all-court game until Nadal regained control with his late charge.

Nadal next faces 27th seed Daniel Evans, a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Federico Coria earlier on Saturday.