On March 17, Beijing time, ATP1000 Indian Wells Masters, Nadal defeated Operka 7-6 (3)/7-6 (5) to reach the quarterfinals and win 18 consecutive wins at the beginning of the new season, surpassing Federer! In the quarter-finals, Nadal will face Kyrgios, who advanced to the tournament with Sinner's retirement!
Nadal and Opelka met in Rome last year, with Nadal taking away the win with two 6-4 wins.
Today, Nadal and U.S. rivals are at loggerheads. In the first set, Nadal played with his opponent to grab 7 and finally won a narrow victory. The same is true of the second set, which is also a 7 win. The match, although only two sets, played for 2 hours, 11 minutes and 26 seconds.
After the victory, Nadal was so excited that he threw his fists and shouted "come on"! On the sidelines, all the spectators stood up and applauded Nadal and applauded the two players on both sides! At the first moment, Nadal and his opponent hugged, and Opelka expressed his admiration for Nadal's tenacity. Finally, Nadal gave the show and applauded the fans!
On the one hand, it is not easy to praise Nadal, the veteran, but tenacity has always been his label, otherwise, he would not have miraculously won the Australian Open title at the beginning of the season, reversed in the final and defeated Medvedev. On the other hand, to applaud the American player Opelka, his performance in this campaign has been remarkable, but it is a pity to face Nadal.
Now, Nadal continues to refresh his strongest start of the new season, winning 18 consecutive games, surpassing Federer and second only to Djokovic.
Historically, the strongest start to the new SEASON in ATP since 1990 belonged to Djokovic, who won 41 consecutive victories in 2011. In 2020, Djokovic won 26 consecutive wins. Nadal is now third in an 18-game winning streak, with Plath (1997), Djokovic (2013) and Federer (2018) winning 17 straight.
Kyrgios benefited from Sinar's injury and returned to the Quarter-Finals of the Masters after four and a half years. Nadal and Kyrgios will stage a focus showdown in the next round.
In terms of hand-to-hand records, Nadal led Kyrgios 5-3 to draw 2-2 on hard courts.