Rafa en photos

INDIAN WELLS, CA - MARCH 17: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates with the trophy after defeating Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina to win the men's final match of the 2013 BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 17, 2013 in Indian Wells, California. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images) 2013 Getty Images

Rafael Nadal beats Juan Martin del Potro in Indian Wells final

Rafael Nadal capped a stunning return to tennis with victory over Juan Martin Del Potro in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The Spaniard, playing his first hard-court tournament in a year following a knee injury, won 4-6 6-3 6-4.
He adds Indian Wells to the clay-court titles he won in Brazil and Mexico since returning to action in February.
It was confirmed on Sunday that Nadal will not play in Miami next week, with European clay next on his schedule.

“It's probably one of the most emotional victories of my career”

Rafael Nadal

He heads back to Europe having surpassed all expectations, ending the first stage of his comeback with victory in one of the biggest hard-court tournaments in tennis, which featured all the world's leading players.

Nadal says his left knee has good days and bad days, and he had played down his chances on the more punishing hard courts, but it appears he is already back to his best whatever the surface.
"It's probably one of the most emotional victories of my career," said Nadal.

"The support since I came back has been huge. It's an unforgettable week for me and an unforgettable tournament."

Del Potro, 24, played his part in a tremendous final and went close to following up wins over Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic by making it a hat-trick with Nadal.
The Argentine came back from 0-3, 15-40, to take the first set and move a break up in the second with a run of nine out of 11 games, and victory was in sight at a set and 3-1 up.
Nadal was not done, however, and wrestled the momentum back as he began to win the battle of two of the biggest forehands in the game.
The Spaniard, 25, won five games in succession to force the decider and, after missing a chance to break at the start of the third, he did so with another vicious forehand winner in game three.
There was one final, brilliant cameo from Del Potro as he rescued a desperate situation at 0-40 and three match points down in game nine, but it was only a stay of execution.
Nadal served his way to another championship point and when he finally closed it out, the 11-time Grand Slam champion collapsed to the ground in scenes reminiscent of his major triumphs.
"I started the match playing fantastic, then Del Potro started playing a little more aggressive," said Nadal, whose last hard-court title came in 2010.
"In my opinion, I tried to change too early against his forehand. I was playing much too aggressive for my game.
"When I was able to calm myself, I began to play better. I started to play a little bit slower. My movement was unbelievable. Then I play a fantastic match,"

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/21825356

Rafa en photos

Rafael Nadal, of Spain against Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Sunday, March 17, 2013, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Rafael Nadal shut down Roger Federer — but it wasn’t pretty

                                         Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Lured by the anticipation of another duel between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, fans packed the main stadium at the BNP Paribas Open on a sultry evening in the desert.
After all, it was the first time in ATP Tour history that two players with 28 Grand Slam titles between them were meeting up.
What resulted, however, wasn’t vintage Nadal vs. Federer.
With Nadal recovering from a left knee injury that knocked him out for seven months and Federer nursing a delicate back, they produced something less than classic Thursday night.
Capitalizing on Federer’s errors, Nadal won their quarter-final 6-4, 6-2 in the earliest meeting between the rivals since they first played each other in 2004.

“I played a fantastic first set,” Nadal said. “The second set was strange. Roger didn’t fight as usual. Probably he had some problems and he didn’t feel enough comfortable to keep fighting.”
Nadal needed barely 1 1/2 hours to close out the defending champion in their 29th career meeting and the first in a quarter-final. Nadal faced just two break points on his serve in the match.

“Two weeks ago I didn’t know if I can be here, and tomorrow I will be in semi-finals here,” Nadal said. “But is a big surprise for me to have these results. I was able to practice just a little before the comeback. Important thing is be healthy. And if that happens and I’m able to practice as much as I can, as much as I want, probably that the comeback will be a little bit less difficult, no?”
Nadal and Federer usually don’t play each other until the semi-finals and finals of tournaments, but the Indian Wells draw pitted them against each other in their earliest meeting since a third-round match at Miami nine years ago.
 “You miss these moments this whole time, but play against Roger in any moment in any situation is special,” Nadal said.
Nadal returned to the tour a month ago, winning two of three tournaments on clay after missing seven months because of a left knee injury. He had his knee wrapped and at times appeared to have a slight limp.
“No question, he’s a bit careful at times, his movement. That’s totally normal,” Federer said. “Hasn’t played for some time on hard court. I don’t know if it’s careful or if it’s just getting used to it again.”
Federer, at 31 the oldest player left in the draw, tweaked his back earlier in the tournament.
“I’m happy to be out there and able to compete, but it’s obviously a small issue,” he said. “That doesn’t work against guys like Rafa, obviously.”
Nadal served a love game to even the first set 3-all, then earned the only break in the next game, taking a 4-3 lead on a backhand passing shot. He went on to win two of the final three games as Federer pulled shots wide or dumped them into the net.

“The longer the match went on, I realized I had to change up my game. I played differently than I was hoping to be able to,” said Federer, who started attacking more with mixed results in the second set. “He got more comfortable as the match went on. Obviously, once I was down a set I knew it was going to be difficult.”
Federer faced a slew of break points in the second set, with Nadal converting in two of the first three games to take a 3-0 lead.
Federer briefly rallied, gaining one break back at 3-1, then losing just one point on his serve in the next game to get to 3-2. But Nadal won the final three games to claim the match in front of Andre Agassi.
“You could see at least I could serve full basically, and that always gives you a direction,” said Federer, adding that he didn’t want to talk about his back too much “because I don’t like to undermine his performance, either.”

A year ago, Federer beat Nadal in the semi-finals on his way to a fourth Indian Wells title. Nadal leads their career series 19-10, and evened their head-to-head mark on hard courts at 6-6.
Still, Nadal wasn’t feeling boastful.
“If I think that I am better than him because I beat him 19 against 10, I will be very stupid and very arrogant,” he said. “This is not the case.”
Nadal improved to 11-0 against top-10 opponents, with his last such loss coming here a year ago against Federer.
Nadal advanced to a semi-final against No. 6 Tomas Berdych, who beat Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4.

He got more comfortable as the match went on. Obviously, once I was down a set I knew it was going to be difficult

Source: http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/03/15/rafael-nadal-shuts-down-roger-federer-but-it-wasnt-pretty/

Rafa en photos

INDIAN WELLS, CA - MARCH 13: Rafael Nadal of Spain  against Ernests Gulbis of Latvia during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2013 in Indian Wells, California. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)