Rafael Nadal smashes the young Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals on the Indian Wells, heads to the finals.
Nadal booked his spot in the finals of the super 1000 after a neck to neck match with the fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. On Sunday, 20 March 2022, the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters was played between King of clay, Rafael Nadal and the world No.19 Carlos Alcaraz.
Hailing from Manacor, Spain, Rafael Nadal Parera is a professional tennis player ranking at No. 4 in the world by the Association of tennis professionals. Before facing Carlos, Nadal had battled Nick Kyrgios in a fierce three-set game in the quarterfinals on the tournament.
Born in 2003, Carlos Alcaraz Garfia is a Spanish professional tennis player ranking at world no.19. The 18 years old player is the second-youngest player to qualify for the semi-finals of the Indian Wells, the first being the former world No.1, American player Andre Agassi, at the age of 17 in 1988.
Sharing his thoughts about competing with an opponent practically half his age, Nadal said, “I took it like another semi-final match. He’s not a young player that is 100 in the world and is coming. He is a top player already, so I treated it like that, playing against one of the best players in the world. It doesn’t matter if he’s young or not, he’s a great guy, an amazing player and he has a fantastic future. I treated it like this, just tried to go on court, try my best and accept all the challenges. I am through and it was a very important victory for me.”
The hurdles for the players on their way to the finals was not only the presence of a strong opponent but the strong winds.
“The wind slowed down a little bit, and then I knew I needed to do something because, in the second, everything was so difficult. If I went to the net, then it was so difficult to manage with the volleys,” said Rafael.
“When the wind stopped a little bit, I thought I needed to play aggressive, because if not, Carlos was going to go for the shots and then it was going to be in his hands. I tried to play more aggressive, it worked well.”
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After an intense game that lasted for 3 hours and 12 minutes, Nadal defeated Alcaraz in the deciders; 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, maintaining his perfect season at 20-0.
Nadal would now be facing Taylor Fritz in the final rounds of the Indian Wells Masters on March 21, 2022.
Published By:Â Manan Khurana
Edited By:Â Khushi Thakur
