Rafael Nadal is already on his second life in Indian Wells and he will try to keep going when he faces Dan Evas during third-round action on Monday. Meanwhile, a spicy matchup features Casper Ruud and Nick Kyrgios.
(4) Rafael Nadal vs. (27) Dan Evans
Nadal has been no stranger to major comebacks throughout his career–and already in the early stages of 2022. The 35-year-old Spaniard famously won the Australian Open final from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev. Nadal was never down by a set on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open, but he trailed Sebastian Korda by a double-break at 5-2 in the third only to storm back for a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3) victory. The 21-time Grand Slam champion is now 55-10 lifetime in the desert with three titles.
Up next for Nadal on Monday afternoon is a third career contest against Evans. Both of their previous meetings have gone Nadal’s way; 7-6(6), 6-4 at the 2019 Rogers Cup and 6-4, 6-0 later that season in the Davis Cup Finals. Evans is in decent enough form at the moment and coming off a 6-2, 6-0 destruction of Federico Coria, but the matchup with Nadal is an especially terrible one. Evans doesn’t have the firepower to hurt Nadal and his one-handed backhand slice struggles to be effective. This should be a much more straightforward affair for Indian Wells’ No. 4 seed than what transpired on Saturday,
Pick: Nadal 2 losing 5-7 games
(WC) Nick Kyrgios vs. (8) Casper Ruud
There will be no love lost between Ruud and Kyrgios when they collide for the second time. Their only previous encounter ended in a default, as Kyrgios incurred multiple code violations for various eruptions and was given the boot while trailing 6-3, 6-7(5), 2-1 at the 2019 Rome Masters. The volatile Australian had nothing but disparaging remarks for Ruud both after that match and in the years since, mainly accusing the Norwegian of being a useless player on any surface other than clay.
That may have been partly true for a while, but Ruud’s rise into the top 10 has included plenty of success on hard courts. What is true, however, is that the world No. 8 is at his best on the red stuff and would most definitely prefer to face Kyrgios on that surface. In these particular conditions, it is not a good matchup for Ruud. Even more problematic for him is that Kyrgios looks motivated–and a motivated Kyrgios is a scary Kyrgios. So far this fortnight the 26-year-old has destroyed both Sebastian Baez (6-4, 6-0) and Federico Delbonis (6-2, 6-2). Unless Kyrgios’ mood suddenly takes a turn for the worse, he is capable of blowing Ruud off the court.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
WWW?
LOL. Ruud easily.
Why easily??
Concerned abt all the foot speculation and limping
Rafa’s foot = the key issue.
Casper in three, but it will not be easy.
Dan Evans in 2. The Nadal honeymoon is over.
Rafa in (he says his foot is fine) and Kyrios in 3.
And by the way, I c Monfils giving the world #1 the business, lol!!
Rafa is playing very poorly here, can’t find a first serve and gets broken. On Evan’s serve he can’t win a point not even on second serve, what’s up Rafa? VAMOS!!!!
I don’t know what is up with Rafa.
Rafa broke back. Maybe he woke up. Playing better now.
Rafa under pressure with his serve.
Rafa wins the first set!
Good news: Monfils beat Meddy!
Bad news: Djoker goes back to #1.
Vamos Rafa!
@ Ramara, lol!!
This is Monfils second scalp at a #1. Rafa first now Meddy! Looking forward to Monfils vs Alcaraz!
I saw Monfils beat Meddy. Novak should send him a thank you card for giving him the #1 ranking back!
Monfils just outplayed him. It was a great win for him.
Rafans here you go…there is sumthing wrong with the foot ..i don’t know what to make of it ..why is he playing ? Or he thinks he can play…all this too close to clay season ?
Anyone who saw the match…how was he ? Too many DFS again ? Bh ?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Minerva2BC/status/1503470399366918145
Rafa said he is going for more on his serve and that means more DF’s.
Jim Courier said that he spoke with Rafa’s team. They said the other day was tough but today was better.
Maybe they are taking it day by day.
Don’t think Meddy is in the right head space. And the fact that the crowd was so pro Monfils did not help any!
On to other news, Rafa with this win has won 400 matches in 1000 masters events! Not sure if record. Vamos, Rafa!!
Hard to be a Russian at the moment.I read Meddy might not be allowed to play Wimby unless he denounced Putin but can’t guarantee accuracy of that
Not surprised Meddy lost.. He goes off until US open..and plays well through out indoor season to AO .
Its the conditions . Low bouncing suits Meddy and his flat hitting.
Would you just look at Jenson Bond Brooksby just GO! Takes care of Tsit.
YEAHHH!
I can see him driving away one of those supercars at end of the week just like 007 himself
But not to beat Norrie that would be bad form 🙂
I really like him: good attitude, problem solver, varied game and wicked back hand ROS. Needs to work on his volleying.