Rafa Nadal extended his 2022 win streak to 16 matches after surviving a huge scare coming from 2-5 down in the third set against Sebastian Korda.
The 35-year-old Spaniard charged into a 4-0 lead against Korda on his way to taking the first set 6-2 before the world number 38 broke Nadal twice to take the second set 6-1.
In the third set, leading 5-2 Korda had two chances to serve for the match but Nadal hung on to force a tie-breaker which he won 7-3.
The world No. 4 Nadal will now meet British number two Evans for the third time and his first since 2019.
Evans, the world No. 29, won 10 straight games against Argentina’s Federico Coria to clinch the first set and dominate the second winning 6-2 6-0,
“It’s why you play tennis, to get on a big court and have a go against a guy who’s playing unbelievably this year and, at the minute, is the greatest of all time,” Evans told Amazon Prime ahead of his third round clash with the Australian Open winner.
“It will be great so there’s no point worrying about it, just have fun.”
It was a good day for the Brits with No. 1 and Indian Wells defending champion Cam Norrie beating Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-3,6-3
New world No.1 Daniil Medvedev, playing for the first time since being told he can no longer compete under the Russian flag following his country’s invasion of Ukraine had a comfortable win over Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3 6-2.
It was also his first game since reaching the top of the ATP rankings.
He dominated the match after saving a break point in the first game, dropping just eight points on serve in the rest of the match.
“It’s always strange here, the conditions,” Medvedev said. “You need a lot of time to get used to the conditions, and at the same time it’s a great place to be.
“Everybody comes one week or one-week-and-a-half before the tournament because of both reasons. That’s what I’ve done also and I feel great, so hopefully I can do better than the previous times.”
Medvedev will next face Gael Monfils of France on Monday as he aims to beat his previous best performance at Indian Wells, having reached the fourth round last October.
Main photo:- Rafa Nadal survives scare to extend his winning streak to 16 matches ©ATPTour.com
