Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal warmed up for the ATP Indian Wells Masters on Sunday with a full of life exhibition in Las Vegas received by Alcaraz 3-6, 6-4, 14-12. The contest on the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, carried reside by streaming service Netflix, was an opportunity for each Spanish stars to check their health. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, missed most of final yr with a hip damage sustained on the Australian Open. He made his comeback on the Brisbane International in January earlier than a small muscle tear compelled the 37-year-old to drag out of this 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 towards Alcaraz.
And he had sufficient within the tank to save lots of 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 might be seeded within the California desert, could have a first-round bye.
Alcaraz, ranked second on the planet, might be attempting to change 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 damage 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 towards Thiago Monteiro.
It was one other setback for the two-time Grand Slam winner, who fell to Alexander Zverev within the Australian Open quarter-finals and misplaced to Chilean Nicolas Jarry within the semi-finals at Buenos Aires.
Alcaraz hasn’t received an ATP title since his gorgeous Wimbledon overcome Djokovic final July.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics talked about on this article