Taylor Fritz ends Nadal’s perfect season and becomes the first American to win the Indian Wells tournament since Andre Agassi in 2001. This means that Fritz handed Nadal his first defeat to end his perfect start to the 2022 season. In a post-match interview, Fritz admitted he almost didn’t play the match due to an injury he sustained while playing the semifinal. Going against his teams’ advice, the 24-year-old wanted to test himself against Nadal, so he did and the result was a first Masters 1000 trophy and his second ATP title.
Taylor started the match with great momentum, creating chances to break Nadal which he did after a few tries. Not long after, Fritz was off to a 4-0 lead in the first set. He consolidated those breaks and easily sealed the first set, 6-3. As the opening set ended, Nadal asked for a medical time out as he was visibly in discomfort due to growing pains in his chest.
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An error-prone Nadal hit two consecutive unforced errors hence losing his service game. However, following consecutive breaks of serve, both players tied the game at 3-3, exchanging serves to 5-5. Nadal faced a match point but overcame but it was still American Taylor Fritz who served more breakpoints to win the tiebreak, 7-5.
The American can boast of winning his first Masters 1000 title at his first final and also the youngest player to win the Indian Wells title since Djokovic did it in 2011.
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