TennisSection previews the Indian Wells 2022 as Rafael Nadal takes on Sebastian Korda in the Round of 64 on Saturday, March 12th, 2022.
Will Rafael Nadal get the win? Will Sebastian Korda pull off the upset? This will be an interesting one, where we have the Spanish legend taking on a next-gen star who is quite the fan of his opponent. Who will triumph to move through to the Round of 32 at Indian Wells 2022?
Rafael Nadal has gotten off to his best ever start in his career, winning a title before lifting the Australian Open title and the Acapulco win. He now goes into Indian Wells as the favorite to win it all, and his first opponent won’t be easy. The court is definitely slow, and Sebastian Korda will prefer a quicker surface, which definitely favors Nadal here. Nadal loves slow courts, and Acapulco is probably even slower than here, which Nadal won without dropping a set. I do think he will struggle a little bit as Korda played a really good match himself to set up the Nadal meeting, but in any case, I expect the Matador to get a great start to his campaign at Indian Wells 2022 and propel himself into the Round of 32.
Sebastian Korda got a very nice win over Kokkinakis, taking him out in straight sets, serving very well, and creating a highlight reel of shots from all over the court from the baseline to the net. I do think he should feel confident going into this match with Rafael Nadal, I think he has a good game to challenge him being a flatter, bigger hitter, which Nadal has historically struggled with. But does he have the consistency to deal with the weight of Rafa’s shot? Nadal loves slow surfaces, and Korda won’t be able to use his pace against Nadal too effectively, but can still likely challenge him as he aims to stay in this one to try and procure a spot in the next round in what would be a shocking upset at Indian Wells 2022.
Rafael Nadal and Sebastian Korda have met once before, with Rafael Nadal leading the head to head 1-0. Their one meeting came a couple of years ago at the 2020 French Open, where no one even came close to stopping Nadal. Of course, the court that year was painfully slow, even for a clay court. Indian Wells is also on the extremist end of court speed, and all that does is help Nadal even more, I would normally expect a tighter contest, and I still do think Korda will be able to go deep in the sets with his big serve and some of the crowd being him, but ultimately, Nadal will overpower him in any case and book a place in the Round of 32 to kick off his campaign at Indian Wells 2022.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Rafael Nadal to win in 2 tight sets.
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