Indian Wells – Record Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal has also won his 16th tennis match this year, but only reached the next round at the Masters in Indian Wells with difficulty.
The Spaniard defeated Sebastian Korda of the USA 6:2, 1:6, 7:6 (7:3) in his opening match and is now in the third round after his walk-through in round one. There he will meet Daniel Evans of Great Britain. Korda gave Nadal a great fight, was already leading 5:2 in the last set and forced the tie-break after 5:6.
“I feel very happy to have progressed. Sebastian played fantastic tennis,” Nadal said in the on-court interview. “I didn’t play my best match, without question. I started well, but in the second set I had a lot of mistakes. He really put me in trouble.”
Nadal has already won the ATP tournament in Melbourne, the Australian Open and the ATP tournament in Acapulco since the beginning of the year, despite an injury to his foot, and has yet to concede defeat. With 21 Major victories, the 36-year-old is the most successful tennis player in history.
