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 dwell on Netflix, including an additional layer of pleasure. It supplied a worthwhile alternative for each Spanish stars to evaluate their health ranges.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, confronted a difficult yr in 2023 as a consequence of 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 instructed interviewer Mary Joe Fernandez he felt “much better than expected” after pocketing the primary set in opposition to 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 will likely be seeded within the California desert, may have a first-round bye.
Alcaraz, ranked second on this planet, will likely be making an attempt to turn out to be 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 considerations 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 in opposition to 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 beautiful Wimbledon conquer Djokovic final July.
Source: www.dailysabah.com