Taylor Fritz hands Rafael Nadal first loss of 2022 with win in Indian Wells final

As violent winds battered the Californian desert across the weekend, disturbing countless tennis players in its wake, a new American champion emerged from the chaos of the BNP Paribas Open. Taylor Fritz, 24, finished the tournament of his life by holding his nerve in the tightest moments to upset Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(5) and win his first Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells.

In the women’s singles, Iga Swiatek further built on her exceptional start to the season and her profile as the most promising young player today as she defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 to win her second consecutive WTA 1000 title and move to 20-3 (87%) this season.

The build-up to the men’s match had centred around Fritz’s condition after he tweaked his ankle in Saturday’s semi-final and then aborted his practice hours before the biggest match of his life. When he arrived on court, all eyes settled on the blue tape rising up from the white sock on his right foot.

“I went through a rollercoaster of emotions before the match, from thinking ‘there’s no way I could possibly play’, then doing so much work on the ankle, then going out, hitting on one of the back courts, all of a sudden thinking: ‘oh my god maybe I can play’,” said Fritz.

But instead of hobbling around the court, Fritz rose to the moment. He opened the match attacking relentlessly off both wings, unloaded on forehands whenever the opportunity presented itself and combined with seamless serving to quickly establish a 4-0, double-break lead.

While he played tremendously well, with every passing game, attention shifted from his own injury to the ailment across the net that played an even greater role in the match. Nadal had issues with his left chest area in his spectacular semi-final match