Rafael Nadal already practicing in California ahead of first Indian Wells appearance for three years
Rafael Nadal is already preparing for his long awaited Indian Wells return as he shared with fans images and video of his practice from California today.ย
The Spaniard enters this year’s California tournament unbeaten in the new year having won the Melbourne Summer Set, Australian Open and Mexican Open in Acapulco consecutively for a 15-0 win-loss record so far in 2022.
Nadal, who is a three-time champion of Indian Wells, last played the event in 2019, reaching the semi-finals then before withdrawing ahead of his match with 20-time Slam champion Roger Federer.
“Here we are back at this amazing part of the world,” Nadal captioned an Instagram post of practice from Indian Wells, which kicks off for the men on 10th March.
“What a place, what a tournament.
“Looking forward to seeing again my US fans of the west coast!”
View this post on Instagram
The 21-time Slam champion also included a short video clip of practice on his Instagram story.
Nadal’s 15-0 start to 2022 eclipses his best previous start to a season recorded in 2014.
He won Doha and reached the Australian Open back then to go 11-0 before losing to Stan Wawrinka in the championship match in Melbourne.
In his current streak Nadal has won three matches against top 10 opponents, including two victories over newly crowned world number one Daniil Medvedev.
Both wins came before the Russian officially topped the ATP rankings, in the Australian Open final and Acapulco semi-finals.
Nadal last won Indian Wells in 2013 after previous triumphs in 2007 and 2009.
He defeated 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the 2013 final, former world number one Andy Murray in the 2009 final and 20-time Major winner Novak Djokovic in the 2007 final.
Nadal is the joint third most successful men’s player at the event, only behind Federer and Djokovic who have five titles each and tied with Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang on three.
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