“I don’t know if there was a broken rib here, but it’s a complicated painRafa Nadal said at a press conference while commemorating the Indian Wells final against Taylor Fritz. The Spaniard came into that match after 20 consecutive wins and lost a match marked by a rib injury that stopped his serving.
Nadal was injured in the semifinals. He suffered, in the words of his doctor, Dr. Ángel Ruiz Cotorro, a stress crack of the third left costal arch who sidelined him for six weeks. He played in that last that was prominently touched and still forced the American to give his best level and beat him in two tight sets (6-4 and 7-6).
“Of course that game can be considered, because I lostNadal said, without apologizing for the physical problem that ended the best start to the season of his life, the one that propelled him to win the Melbourne, Australian Open and Acapulco and left him at the gate of his fourth Indian Wells.
The Fritz he met that day was a better player than he lost in his first confrontation in the final of Acapulco 2020, one of the last tournaments played before the pandemic.
Fritz, who broke the 21-year curse without an American champion at Indian Wells (since Andre Agassi in 2001), made a very early break on the tour and won his first match as a 17-year-old in Nottingham 2015. The his ranking was from the best 700 in the world and at that time he combined the junior tournaments, of which he was number one, on the professional circuit. As a junior, he won the US Open in 2015 and became a finalist at Roland Garros the same year (lost to Tommy Paul).
In the 2016 season, he was already established on the major circuit. He played in his first Grand Slam match in Australia 2016 and reached his first final in Memphis, in February of that year, where he lost to Kei Nishikori. He has been the youngest American finalist since 1990.
Despite his natural talent, Fritz, who beat Andrey Rublev, Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas in his junior stage, has gone through some ups and downs in recent years and even had to come down to the Challengers to regain the sensations.
His first big win came on the grass, when he won Eastbourne 2019, and since then he has added four losing finals, until he can fasten his second trophy, at Indian Wells against Nadal. The American won again at Eastbourne this season and at Wimbledon he achieved his best Grand Slam result. As far as London, his top was the round of 16 he did this year in Australia.
“He is a player who is very good at serving, especially the first serveNadal reviewed.
“He is a complete player. He came very young, he has a little break and then he made a big push forward. He is playing very well on all surfaces. I am realistic and we are in the quarterfinals, I cannot expect him to have an easy rival in a tournament like Wimbledon. We’re in a round where I have to play well to win. “
Off the track, Fritz became very early and She had her first child in January 2017, when the American was almost 18 years old.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
