This time, though, the chorus was less a war cry than a mournful murmur: “Ra-fa, Ra-fa, Ra-fa.”

Minutes earlier, Rafael Nadal’s final match on Spanish soil had ended in a 7-5, 6-4 defeat to Jiri Lehecka, a muscular, square-jawed Czech 15 years his junior. Now, as the soft hum of the crowd subsided and his wife, Xisca, and sister, María Isabel, looked on through a veil of tears, Nadal stepped forward to address the crowd.

“This is a joke,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Next year, I am coming back.”

On a night rich with emotion, it was not the only moment that leavened the sadness of Nadal’s farewell to Madrid. Up in the rafters of the Estadio Manolo Santana, five banners were unfurled, one for each of the 37-year-old’s Madrid Open victories; to his evident amusement, the first and fifth temporarily got stuck halfway down. Not to worry: three titles would still be as many as anyone else has managed in the Spanish capital. And if Nadal needed a reminder of his other two wins, there was always the video montage that, he said, made him feel like his title triumphs, the last of which came in 2017, happened in another lifetime. 

The reality, of course, is that he will almost certainly not be back. The injuries that have plagued him throughout his career, of which the abdominal and hip issues that have hampered him for the better part of two years are merely the latest manifestation, have left an indelible mark. Lehecka is the first player ranked outside the top 20 to defeat Nadal on a clay court since Pablo Cuevas, who accomplished the feat at the 2016 Rio Open. Nadal nonetheless leaves Madrid with a suitcase of memories and the knowledge that, with four straight matches under his belt for the first time since the 2022 US Open, his form and fitness are improving.

There is more to come, most immediately at next week’s Italian Open, the next stop on a road that, if Nadal feels he can be competitive, will lead to Roland Garros, where he has won 14 of his 22 grand slam titles. Beyond that lie the Paris Olympics, where he is expected to partner Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s doubles, and September’s Laver Cup in Berlin. For now, though, a chapter has closed. 

“This is a difficult day when it arrives, but it’s a reality,” Nadal told the crowd. “My body and my life had been sending me signs for some time. I was able to say goodbye playing on this court, one of the most emotional ones for me. Madrid at times has been more important to me than a grand slam. The memories here will stay with me forever.

“I have been lucky to have been able to turn a hobby into a job and do it well. I feel very lucky. I can’t ask for anything more.

“I can only thank everyone who has helped me in my career at some point. It’s not over yet, but here it is. It’s a gift that you have given for 21 years.

“I hope I have been able to be a good example for the new generations. That is more important than the titles. I hope I have generated positive emotions. The only thing I can say is thank you. I can’t say anything else; what I feel is this.”

Lehecka joked beforehand that, as the higher-ranked player, he would naturally go into the match as favourite. Yet many a true word is spoken in jest and, as he whistled through his opening three service games for the loss of just three points, landing hammer blows with his forehand and averaging 138mph on his first serve, the scale of the challenge facing Nadal quickly became clear. 

The Spaniard nonetheless held firm, showing no evidence of any physical hangover from his three-hour duel with Pedro Cachin barely 24 hours earlier, and in the eighth game a double fault from Lehecka gifted him the first break point of the contest. The Czech appeared to greet that as a wake-up call, smoking one of 13 forehand winners on the night, and in short space he embarked on a run of five straight games – and 14 consecutive points – to move ahead by a set and a break. 

Nadal remained characteristically defiant, fending off three break points to avoid falling a double break behind, and he would remain in touch to the last. At 5-4, Lehecka walked out to serve for the biggest win of his career and was met by a wall of sound. As the crowd rose to acclaim their hero, the clamour was deafening, chants of “Si, se puede!” – “Yes, we can!” – raining down from the stands. The Czech faltered for the first time, looping a forehand long. But his assurance at the net, another hallmark of an excellent night’s work, soon carried him over the line. As Nadal strode forward to shake hands, emotion was writ large on the faces of his family.

“I tried not to look at them,” said Nadal, “because I don’t want them to cry for me, even if it’s an emotional day. It’s not my last match, I’m not retiring yet, just saying goodbye to a very special place for me.

“Things need to keep going for me. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last match, but I don’t want to become too emotional, because I want to try to keep going for a while and just try to keep focused on my path.

“It’s a night that’s going to stay in my heart forever, but at the same time I try to be strong enough to keep going, because it’s not yet enough.” 

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Will there be another tale of the unexpected this year? With Djokovic once again unable to enter the United States, Nadal still working his way back from injury and Federer enjoying his retirement on the ski slopes of Switzerland, the outlook is encouraging. The sense of opportunity is all the more palpable for the fact that the chief contenders all arrive in the Coachella Valley with questions to answer about their form, fitness or track record at the event.

First quarter

Take Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, who has the chance to reclaim the No 1 ranking from Djokovic if he can land a first title. On the one hand, the 19-year-old has achieved some good results since returning from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Australian Open. But having won a title in Buenos Aires last month and then advanced to the final of the Rio Open, Alcaraz aggravated the muscle again and was subsequently forced to pull out of Acapulco.

The Spaniard, who looked sharp in practice against Frances Tiafoe, insists he has made a full recovery. The proof, as he sets his sights on a swift return to top spot, will come in a potentially tricky opener against Australian powerhouse Thanasi Kokkinakis.

“I feel great,” said Alcaraz, who refuses to see himself as the title favourite at his first hard-court event since last November. “I took some days off and it was really good for me. Right now, I’m ready.

“For me, winning the tournament and being No 1 again is a really good goal, and I really want to go for it.”

Second quarter

To do so, Alcaraz may have to go through Fritz, the defending champion and fourth seed, whom he will face in the semi-finals if the seedings hold. The early months of 2023 have been a mixed bag for the 25-year-old Californian, who was beaten early at the Australian Open but went on to win his first title of the season in Delray Beach last month, either side of semi-final appearances in Dallas and Acapulco. The alarming nature of Fritz’s exit at the latter event, where he narrowly avoided hospitalisation following a gruelling three-set battle with Tommy Paul in fierce humidity, was hardly ideal preparation for his return to the scene of last year’s breakthrough win against Nadal. 

Fritz will open his title defence against his 20-year-old countryman Ben Shelton, a surprise quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, in a contest that will not want for firepower. Assuming he negotiates that potential banana skin, he is seeded to meet Alex De Minaur in the round of 16 and either Holger Rune or Jannik Sinner in the quarters. Like Fritz himself, all are recent title winners. If the American makes his scheduled appointment with Alcaraz, he will have earned it.

Third quarter

What of Casper Ruud, the third seed? After the highs of last year, when he made a trio of big finals at Roland Garros, the US Open and the ATP Finals, Ruud has endured a slow start to this season, winning just two of his four matches so far. The Norwegian, who took most of February off to recover from the abdominal problem that hampered him during his shock second-round loss to Jenson Brooksby at the Australian Open, could have wished for an easier first opponent than Diego Schwartzman. The recent illness of his father has weighed heavily on Schwartzman but, while the Argentinian’s results have understandably suffered, the fact remains that he has won five of his eight meetings with Ruud – including a straight-sets victory in Indian Wells two years ago. 

With Ruud under pressure to rediscover the form that carried him to the Miami Open final last spring, Daniil Medvedev, his prospective quarter-final opponent, is the obvious favourite to come through the third quarter of the draw. The Russian, seeded fifth but playing tennis befitting of a world No 1, is targeting a fourth straight title following a remarkable run of success in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, where he ended Djokovic’s unbeaten start to the season. Yet Indian Wells has not been a happy hunting ground for the 27-year-old, who has only once made it to the round of 16. Medvedev, who will open his challenge against Brandon Nakashima, the rising American who won his first ATP title in nearby San Diego last autumn, is taking nothing for granted. 

“New tournament, new story,” he mused in Dubai as he contemplated his prospects of extending a run of 14 straight wins. 

Fourth quarter

Then again, with only six victories from 11 previous outings in the California desert, perhaps a new narrative is just what Medvedev needs. Particularly since, should he make it through to the last four, he would potentially face Stefanos Tsitsipas, the second seed, who has got the better of him in their two most recent meetings. What an occasion that would be, after Medvedev used his Dubai winner’s speech to take a thinly veiled swipe at Tsitsipas over his snarky aside about Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals, where the beaten Greek remarked that Rublev “managed to prevail with the few tools he has”.

“Hopefully [Rublev] can beat this guy many, many times – and I wish this for you,” said Medvedev, who is a close friend of his compatriot.

If the sixth-seeded Rublev can pick up from where he left off in Dubai, a first opportunity to fulfil that wish could come as soon as the quarter-finals. Tsitsipas, who has struggled with a shoulder injury in the weeks since his barnstorming run to the Australian Open final, has not played competitively since his early exit in Rotterdam three weeks ago. For now, he is just happy to be back on court.  

“It has been a while since I stepped on a court and played a match, so it is great being back,” said Tsitsipas, who opens against Jordan Thompson, the Australian world No 87. 

“I might not be at the best with the way I am feeling on the court right now, but I am pleased to have the opportunity to compete.”

With Tsitsipas potentially vulnerable and Rublev, a semi-finalist last year, in a solid run of form, much could depend on the Russian’s second-round meeting with Jiri Lehecka, the rising Czech who upset him at the Qatar Open last month. 

Nor should the claims of Norrie, the 2021 champion, be overlooked. The British 10th seed, who avenged his defeat to Alcaraz in the Argentina Open final by pipping the Spaniard to the post at the Rio Open, opens against Taiwan’s Tung-Lin Wu. 

Also lurking, in what feels like the most open section of the draw, is Frances Tiafoe, who offered such a stirring demonstration of what he can on a home-soil hard court by reaching the semi-finals of last year’s US Open. Tiafoe opens against another American, the 73rd-ranked Marcos Giron, ahead of a projected fourth-round meeting with Tsitsipas.

Semi-final predictions: Alcaraz to beat Rune; Medvedev to beat Lehecka.

Final prediction: Alcaraz to beat Medvedev.

The post Indian Wells men’s preview: Alcaraz to reclaim No 1? appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

It was the latest spectacular Houdini act in a season that has already been full of them. Six of the seven matches Murray has played this season have gone the distance, and he has now saved match points in three of them. At 35 and playing with a metal hip, the former world No 1 is redefining the limits of tennis mortality, rewriting the laws of sporting probability, and shredding the nerves of family and fans alike. 

Murray has long been a master of escapology, but his talent for digging himself out of a hole has reached fresh heights in Doha. 

“A straight sets win once in a while would be nice,” Judy Murray quipped on social media after watching her son fend off three match points in the opening round against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego. Evidently Murray wasn’t listening. He subsequently survived a three-hour battle with Alexander Zverev, the Olympic champion and former world No 2, before battling back from a set down against the French qualifier Alexandre Muller. So much for keeping it short.

Yet neither those performances nor even his remarkable comeback from match point down against Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open could match the magnitude of an escape that puts Murray through to his fifth final in the Qatari capital. He will now attempt to win his first title since 2019 against Daniil Medvedev, a 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) winner over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“Andy, this is too much now,” tweeted Jamie Murray following his older brother’s 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) win. The unbridled delight with which Murray greeted his latest success, after steering a brilliant running pass beyond Lehecka to seal victory in two hours and 29 minutes, suggested Jamie was not alone in his sense of wonderment.

“That was one of the most amazing turnarounds I’ve had in my career,” said Murray. “He obviously had the three match points at 5-4, but also I think [two] when I was serving at 5-3, I don’t know.

“I knew it was his first time maybe serving for a final, so I had to make sure that I tried to keep the pressure on at the end, because I know how difficult it is to serve matches like that out. But I’ve no idea how I managed to turn that one around, to be honest.”

It was a brutal lesson for Lehecka, who responded impressively to a first-set whitewash in what was only his second semi-final at this level. The 21-year-old Czech defeated a trio of seeds at the Australian Open last month before he was finally stopped in the quarter-finals by Stefanos Tsitsipas and, as he served at 5-4, 40-0, in the decider defeat must have been the furthest thought from his mind. 

By then, however, Murray had already fended off two match points against his serve and was in no mood to relent. Three fine returns followed, each backed up by cool, measured play from the baseline, and in a trice Murray was level. Lehecka, ranked 18 places higher than Murray at No 52, matched the Scot step for step in the climactic tiebreak. The Czech saved a match point of his own at 5-6 with a bold drop shot that left his opponent nursing a jarred knee. But it did not stop Murray from conjuring a brilliant no-look forehand at full pelt to seal victory at the second time of asking.

Murray, the champion in 2008 and 2009, becomes the first player to make five finals at the event.

“This tournament over the years has had many great players,” said Murray. “[Roger] Federer played a lot, and guys like [Andy] Roddick and [Rafael] Nadal. Novak [Djokovic] has played. Those guys have obviously achieved a lot more than me, but this is one small win that I maybe can have over them.”

Victory over Medvedev in Saturday’s final would feel anything but small. 

The post Murray saves five match points to reach Doha final appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

Had he made contact, Tsitsipas would have been instantly disqualified, shattering any hope of avenging his defeat to Djokovic in the 2021 French Open final – a meeting that appeared to slip Djokovic’s mind when he asked reporters on Monday whether the Athenian had ever contested a major final. Absent-mindedness or kidology? If Djokovic was trying to get inside the head of the man most likely to be standing between him and a 22nd grand slam title on Sunday, you could hardly blame him. 

Tsitsipas has been on fire at this Australian Open. He has served with unprecedented venom and consistency. He has dominated opponents from the baseline with his mighty forehands and lithe movement. Above all, he has performed with renewed freedom and intensity while revealing a more relaxed and fun persona off it, currying favour with the locals in his on-court interviews. Which is why, after nine days in which big names have fallen like dominoes, it would have been a huge blow for the tournament had the Greek been given his marching orders.

It is a measure of how badly Tsistsipas craves this title that he let fly at the ball as it bounced off the backstop following a rifled winner from Lehecka. True, he had just dropped a return short off an inviting second serve with the Czech in peril at 15-30, 3-4. But as the scurrying ballboy halted and flinched, it was hard not to wonder what Tsitsipas, bearing down on a semi-final meeting with Karen Khachanov, was thinking. The Greek was three games from victory over Lehecka and has won all five of his previous matches against Khachanov, who earlier advanced after Sebastian Korda was forced to retire with a wrist injury while trailing 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 3-0. Why take the risk?

“I saw the ball kid when the ball came back,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m a professional tennis player. I was not aiming for the ball kid, obviously. I saw the wall, just went back towards the wall. The ball kid, in my eyes, was pretty far away from me. Would have really had to miss to hit that ball kid.”

Djokovic mounted a similar defence following a comparable incident in 2016 – “If I’m not close, I’m not close,” he snapped after firing a ball into the crowd at the ATP Finals – and we all know how that one turned out. Tsitsipas would do well to take note of the consternation of his peers.

“Speaking from experience, you’ve got to be careful when hitting balls around the court,” said Eurosport’s Tim Henman, who was famously defaulted from a doubles match at Wimbledon in 1995 after accidentally hitting a ball girl in similar circumstances.

“Tsitsipas just got really lucky,” agreed Jim Courier, a four-time grand slam champion, in his commentary for Australian TV. “He swings in anger and nearly hits the ball kid. If it does, he is shaking hands as a loser in this match. You cannot do that, you have to be careful. That was dangerous.”

Assuming he can remain dangerous for the right reasons, Tsitsipas will start as a clear favourite against Khachanov, who will be contesting his second grand slam semi-final in succession following his outstanding run at the US Open last September. 

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