INDIAN WELL: Hours from playing in the biggest final of his young career, Taylor Fritz was in severe pain. The prospect of having to withdraw against Rafael Nadal nearly had him in tears.

His coach urged him not to potentially risk damaging his sore ankle further. Fritz stubbornly refused to bow out.

His faith in himself paid off. Fritz upset Nadal 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and snap the 21-time major champion’s 20-match winning streak this year.

“This is just one of those childhood dreams you just think would never come true,” said Fritz, who tweaked his ankle late in his semi-final win over Andrey Rublev and received treatment to numb his ankle.

“I can’t even describe how ridiculous it is how I could play today. I have never experienced worse pain in my life before a match.

“If I knew it was going to be that bad, I wouldn’t have come out here. I took a couple of change-of-direction steps and screamed and honestly I was trying to act tough because I had cameras on me.

“We did a lot of work leading up to the match and I went through a rollercoaster of emotions before the match thinking there’s no way I could possibly play today.”

Nadal had his own health issue.

He came into the match bothered by painful breathing that he first experienced during an epic three-set semi-final battle with 18-year-old compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.

He took two medical timeouts during the final. The first one came after he lost the first set. Nadal went inside with a trainer after tapping his upper left chest. He got treatment on court after falling behind 5-4 in the second set.

“When I try to breathe, it’s painful and it’s very uncomfortable. It’s like a needle all the time inside. I get dizzy a little bit because it’s painful. It’s a kind of pain that limit me a lot,” said Nadal, who turns 36 in June. “The thing that worries me now, it’s about what’s going on there, what I have to do now to recover and how long going to take.”

SWIATEK BLOWS AWAY SAKKARI

In an error-filled women’s final, Poland’s Iga Swiatek blew away Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 and move up to number two in the world rankings behind Australian Ashleigh Barty.

“Right now, it’s too surreal to describe it, honestly,” Swiatek said. “But for sure I want to go higher because I feel like getting the No. 1 is closer and closer.

Sakkari will move from sixth to third, the rising Greek star’s highest ranking yet.

Another windy day in the California desert made life miserable for both players, the gusts contributing to an uneven contest littered with nine breaks of serve.

The 20-year-old Swiatek claimed six of those breaks including two in a one-sided second set, clinching a second consecutive WTA 1000 title with a thundering forehand winner.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2022