Read also:
Nadal: I feel like a needle prick when I breathe
Nadal suffered his first defeat in 2022 after twenty consecutive victories, losing to Fritz 3-6, 6-7 (5-7) in the Indian Wells Masters final.
Nadal underwent treatment during his confrontation with his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, and the same thing was repeated during his match against Fritz.
Nadal’s career was disrupted in the middle of last year due to a foot injury, after he suffered at the beginning of last year from back problems.
After the match, Nadal said, “I was in pain honestly, I had trouble breathing, I don’t know if it was a rib injury, I don’t know yet, when I breathe and when I move it looks like there’s a needle inside me that pricks me… I felt a bit dizzy because it hurts.”
“It’s a kind of pain that weighs me down a lot, it’s not just about the pain, I’m not in good shape because it affects my breathing,” the veteran Spanish star added.
Nadal expressed his sadness at the end of his winning streak before the start of the clay court season, a march that saw him crowned the Australian Open and Acapulco titles.
“Honestly, I wanted to make my career perfect before the claycourt season, which was very nice,” Nadal said.
He continued, “Frankly, I feel sad because of my inability to compete, it is difficult to live that feeling, but in the end it is very difficult, but in sports it is not about talking about the past, we have to talk about today, and today is difficult for me.”
Fritz managed to win his first title in the 1,000-point Masters class, even though he played the match with an ankle problem.
Nadal, who won 21 titles in the four Grand Slam tournaments, praised American Fritz, who beat him after knocking out Russian Andrei Rublev from the semi-finals.
“Winning like this helps, he (Fritz) played really well, he had some great matches during the week, especially yesterday,” Nadal noted.
He added, “All praise is to him for yesterday’s victory. In my opinion, his victory yesterday is greater than his victory today because he was facing a more powerful opponent yesterday.”
“He (Fritz) has already had great matches in Australia this year, including the match against Stefanos Tsitsipas,” Nadal said.
Nadal concluded by saying, “It is clear that he is developing, and with this victory is a great start to the season for him, it will be the opportunity for him to approach the list of the top ten ranked players in the world, and perhaps join it.”