INDIAN WELLS, United States —
Rafael Nadal pulled off another great escape
Saturday, rallying from two breaks down in the third set to beat young American
Sebastian Korda in the second round at Indian Wells.
اضافة اعلان
As Daniil Medvedev
— the man Nadal beat with an epic comeback in the
Australian Open final —
cruised to victory in his first match as the world’s top-ranked player, Nadal
was made to work by 21-year-old Korda, ranked 38th in the world.
“I feel very, very
lucky today to be through,” Nadal said after a 6–2, 1–6, 7–6 (7/3) victory in
the prestigious WTA and ATP Masters hardcourt tournament.
“Sebastian was
playing some fantastic tennis. I didn’t play my best match without a doubt
(but) a lot of credit to him that he played so aggressive and he put me in a
lot of trouble.”
The night ended
with four-time Grand Slam champion
Naomi Osaka departing Stadium Court in tears
after she was heckled early in a 6–0, 6–4 second-round loss to Veronika
Kudermetova.
Osaka, who put
athlete mental health in the spotlight during a tumultuous 2021, said it wasn’t
so much the “Naomi, you suck” shout from the crowd but the fact that it reminded
her of how Venus and Serena Williams were jeered at the same tournament in
2001.
“To be honest, I
feel like I’ve been heckled before, it didn’t really bother me,” she told the
crowd after the match.
“But, like, I’ve
watched a video of Venus and Serena being heckled here. If you’ve never watched
it, you should watch it,” Osaka added, choking back tears.
“I don’t know why, but it went into my head and it
got replayed a lot.”
Osaka asked the
chair umpire to intervene after the incident, to no avail, and at 0-3 down the
former world number one’s emotions briefly spilled over.
She pulled herself
together and even though she raised her game in the second set she couldn’t
find a way past Kudermetova.
Medvedev opened the
action on Stadium Court and after saving a breakpoint in the opening game had
little trouble with 21-year-old Czech qualifier Tomas Machac, ranked 158th in
the world.
The US Open
champion wrapped up a 6–3, 6–2 victory in 70 minutes, although Medvedev said it
“was not as easy as it seems” after he sealed the win on a third match point.
Medvedev said it
was a “great feeling” to take the court as world number one, “something I’ve
always dreamed of.”
Medvedev, who has
never made it past the fourth round in four prior appearances, next faces
France’s Gael Monfils, who beat Serbian
Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal, who won a
record 21st Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January, improved his perfect
season’s start to 16 straight victories with a gritty display that owed more to
experience.
Korda led the
third set 5–2 and twice served for the match. But he couldn’t conjure a match
point as Nadal reeled off four games in a row.
“I think it’s true
that probably he got a little bit more nervous,” said Nadal, who next plays
Britain’s Dan Evans, a 6–2, 6–0 winner over
Argentina’s Federico Coria.
Nadal was joined in
the third round by rising young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who beat American
Mackenzie McDonald 6–3, 6–3.
The 18-year-old
Alcaraz, coming off a title at the Rio Open, converted five of his nine break-point
chances and rallied from a breakdown in the second set.
Defending men’s and
women’s champions Cameron Norrie and
Paula Badosa both advanced.
Britain’s Norrie,
seeded 12th, defeated Pedro Martinez 6–3, 6–3 to earn a rematch of last year’s
final against Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Badosa kicked off
her title defense with a 6–2, 7–6 (7/4) victory over Tereza Martincova.
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