(ANSA) – ROME, MARCH 17 – Rafa Nadal did not let himself be impressed by the 2.11 meter high ‘mountain’ named Reilly Opelka and, despite the pain in his left foot, he has retained the unbeatenness that has accompanied him since the beginning of 2022, moving on to the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells tournament.
The n.4 in the world, solid in the key moments of the match, established himself as the great favorite of the Californian Masters 1000, winning 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) in 2h13 ‘of play. With this 18th consecutive victory, he does better than Pete Sampras (1997) and Roger Federer (2018) who had won one less at the start of the season. And if he does better than Novak Djokovic in 2013, also stopped at 17, he remains very far from the Serbian, who had obtained 26 successes in a row in 2020 and above all 41 in 2011, a record in this sector since the beginning of the ATP in 1990.
In front of Opelka, one of the biggest in the service of the circuit (with a first reaching 235 km / h) in this meeting, the 35-year-old Majorcan placed five, six meters behind the baseline and from there he ended up folding the opponent.
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Source: Ansa
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