'Everyone knows how good he is' - Rafa Nadal sets sights on old foe Nick Kyrgios after going 18-0, Norrie through

Rafael Nadal improved to 18-0 for the season with a hard-fought 7-6(3) 7-6(5) win against Reilly Opelka at Indian Wells. Nadal said it was a “great victory” against the 6’11” Opelka, who was serving hitting 140mph. However, the 24-year-old mustered only nine aces, winning 76% of his first serve against his 84% over the course of the season.

Ad/> Opelka did fashion a break of serve – in the sixth game of the second set – but Nadal broke back and won the second set, as he did the first, in a tiebreak. Tennis'Wake up' — Stakhovsky hits out at Conte over Russian athletes commentsA DAY AGO Next up for Nadal, a match against old foe Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals. It will be the 10th meeting between the two, with Nadal having won five of the previous meetings.

Speaking after the match, Nadal was acutely aware of the threat a “motivated” Kyrgios presents. “He’s playing great, no?” Nadal said. “He’s one of the toughest opponents on tour – everybody knows how good he is when he’s motivated, probably tomorrow he will be.

It’s going to be a good test for me, a good challenge – I’m very excited to be in the quarterfinals.” ‘I can see how much I've improved’ – Swiatek prepares for Indian Wells meeting with Halep Djokovic, Russians given green light to play at French Open The win moved Nadal to 18-0 for the season, with only Novak Djokovic having recorded a better start to a season since 1990, in 2011 and 2020 with records of 41-0 and 26-0 respectively. Elsewhere, defending champion Cameron Norrie edged past Jenson Brooksby 6-2 6-4 meaning the defending champion has now won nine matches on the bounce. The Brit, ranked 12th in the world, said he got “absolutely whacked” by quarter-final opponent Carlos Alcaraz the last time they