Indiana Wells Masters: Rafael Nadal beats Carlos Alcaraz to extend 2022 winning run to 20-0

Rafael
Nadal faced down the future and emerged victorious, outlasting Spanish teenager
Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Saturday night to reach the Indiana Wells Masters
final and improve to 20-0 this year.

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The
21-time major champion threw his head back, smiled and raised both arms in
triumph after escaping an aggressive Alcaraz. The 18-year-old never appeared
rattled playing his vaunted countryman, who had the crowd, a 17-year advantage
in age and loads of experience in his favour.

Nadal’s perfect record is the third-best start to a
season since 1990. 

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Nadal
staved off three break points on his serve in the fifth game of the third set
and then broke Alcaraz with a forehand volley winner to go up 5-3. Nadal served
out the match with a love game, punctuating the 3-hour, 12-minute struggle with
a 95-mph ace.

He
will meet Taylor Fritz on the final Sunday. Seeded 20th, Fritz is the first
American man to make the final since John Isner in 2012 and he’ll try to be the
first to win the title since Andre Agassi in 2001.

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Fritz
ended No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev’s 13-match winning streak with a 7-5, 6-4
victory in the other semifinal. The Russian had won 13 consecutive matches
since Feb. 14, including back-to-back titles at Marseille and Dubai.

After
holding to go up 4-3 in the third, Nadal called for a trainer, who appeared to
give the soon-to-be 36-year-old star a chiropractic adjustment.

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Alcaraz
outdueled Nadal in a second set that featured five service breaks, including
four in a row.

Tied
4-all, Alcaraz broke Nadal in a game that lasted 19 minutes, 42 seconds.
Nadal’s errant forehand gave Alcaraz the advantage on the seventh break point
of the game. The teenager tossed up a topspin lob near the baseline that Nadal
could not catch up to and Alcaraz led 5-4. He served out the set, 6-4.

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Alcaraz
got Nadal’s attention from the start, breaking him in the first game of the
match. The teen survived a six-deuce game on his serve to go up 2-0. Alcaraz
was gutsy throughout, charging the net on breakpoints and often coming up with
winners.

As
the match went on, the wind grew so strong it blew the players’ white towels
nearly onto the court and rattled Nadal’s perfectly aligned drink bottles that
he sets facing the court. Ball kids chased items that weren’t anchored down.

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In
the first semifinal, Fritz came out strongly in front of a supportive crowd at
the tournament where he’s been coming since he was a kid from his home near San
Diego. He served a love game to open the match and then promptly broke Rublev
and held again for a 3-0 lead.