Spaniards Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal warmed up for the ATP Indian Wells Masters on Sunday with a energetic exhibition in Las Vegas, the place the younger Alcaraz emerged victorious with a 3-6, 6-4, 14-12 win.
The match, held on the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, was streamed stay on Netflix, including an additional layer of pleasure. It supplied a beneficial alternative for each Spanish stars to evaluate their health ranges.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, confronted a difficult yr in 2023 resulting from a hip harm sustained on the Australian Open. After making his comeback on the Brisbane International in January, a small muscle tear compelled the 37-year-old to withdraw from the season’s first Grand Slam in Melbourne.
He shelved plans to return to motion on the Qatar Open in February, saying he was “not ready to compete.”
He advised interviewer Mary Joe Fernandez he felt “much better than expected” after pocketing the primary set towards Alcaraz.
And he had sufficient within the tank to avoid wasting 5 match factors within the match tiebreak earlier than Alcaraz lastly completed it out.
It was an encouraging efficiency earlier than Indian Wells, the place Nadal is a three-time champion. In his most up-to-date Indian Wells look, Nadal completed runner-up to American Taylor Fritz in 2022.
The Spanish veteran will play his first-round match at Indian Wells on Thursday. Alcaraz, who shall be seeded within the California desert, could have a first-round bye.
Alcaraz, ranked second on the earth, shall be making an attempt to turn into the primary man to efficiently defend his Indian Wells title since Novak Djokovic’s three-peat from 2014-2016.
But the 20-year-old Spaniard has had his personal harm issues of late, retiring from his first-round match on the Rio Open lower than two weeks in the past after he rolled his proper ankle on simply the second level of the match towards Thiago Monteiro.
It was one other setback for the two-time Grand Slam winner, who fell to Alexander Zverev within the Australian Open quarterfinals and misplaced to Chilean Nicolas Jarry within the semi-finals in Buenos Aires.
Alcaraz hasn’t received an ATP title since his gorgeous Wimbledon conquer Djokovic final July.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
