Indian Wells news: Rafa Nadal continues superb run against Nick Kyrgios, Cameron Norrie crashes out
- Planet Sport writer
- 18 March 2022
Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak to 19 games on Friday morning to book himself a spot in the semi-finals, while defending champion Cameron Norrie lost in straight sets.
After winning the Australian and Mexican Open to start his season, Rafa Nadal is looking to add yet another title to his already bustling trophy cabinet.
The Spaniard had already beaten Sebastian Korda, Dan Evans and Reilly Opelka to make his way to the quarter-finals, where he came up against a recently rejuvinated Nick Kyrgios.
The Australian Open doubles champion has been enjoying a successful start to the season himself, and gave Nadal a run for his money in California despite eventually losing 7-6 (7) 5-7 6-4
A tense opening set saw Nadal hit a double fault at 1-1 to essentially hand Kyrgios a break, and the 26-year-old served well to find himself 4-2 up in the opener.
However, Nadal's experience shone through as he battled back to level the scores and take it to a tie-break. A code violation and a resultant point penalty slowed down Kyrgios, and Nadal ended up dominating the tie-break 7-0.
Kyrgios managed to keep his calm despite the tantrums with the umpire, and after Nadal managed to hold serve five times, he denied the 21-time Grand Slam winner a second tie-break as he broke him in the final game to set up a decider.
Nadal looked to be hanging on in the third and final set, with the 35-year-old forced to save two break points early on.
However, Kyrgios hit a double fault at 3-3 to break his serve, and Nadal calmy held for the remainder of the set to take it 6-4.
Kyrgios: 'I felt I was the one to end Nadal's streak'
Following the match, Kyrgios was disappointed with his defeat, suggesting that his game plan was working in the opening set.
"That one hit pretty hard. I felt like I was the one to end Nadal's streak. I played well and did everything right in the first set. I had a game plan, and everything was working.
"I was two points from winning the set, and I do not know how he got out to win that tenth game, especially the fourth point.
"As a little kid, this is what you dream about to play these events against Nadal and the hype around it. I do not see any other matches getting this kind of hype.
"As soon as we matched up against each other, social media's going nuts. I think it lived up to it,"
Cameron Norrie crashes out to Carlos Alcaraz Garfia
The defending Indian Wells champion was knocked out on Friday morning, as British No.1 Cameron Norrie lost in straight sets to Spain's Carlos Alcaraz Garfia.
Norrie started brightly in both sets, but only managed to convert 49% of his break points against the exciting 18-year-old, who went on to secure a 6-4 6-3 victory.
Now, after beating both Gael Monfils and Norrie, Garfia is set to face compatriot Nadal in the semi-final, as the new generation of Spanish tennis faces the old. The duo are set to take to the court at 18:00 GMT on Friday afternoon.
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It's Garfia's first ever semi-final in a Masters 1000 tournament, a feat that left the Spaniard speechless, simply saying he has "no words to describe" his feelings.
