Nadal aims to continue flawless season at Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal is on the cusp of producing one of the best starts to a season in the Open Era.

The Spanish champion is now a flawless 15-0 to begin 2022, after winning hard court titles at the Melbourne Summer Set, Australian Open and Acapulco.

“The way I’ve started the season is a dream,” said Nadal after beating Daniil Medvedev, for the second time this year, to reach the Acapulco final.

Should he win a handful of matches at this fortnight’s ATP Masters event at Indian Wells, Nadal’s unbeaten run would really start to resonate historically.

Since 1988, when the Australian Open adopted a hard-court surface and a 128-player draw, just three players – Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras – have enjoyed better starts to a men’s tennis season. 

Unbeaten starts to a season since 1988

Incredibly, Nadal entered the 2022 season significantly underdone. 

He was forced to skip Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open with a foot injury, and last played a competitive match in early August before shutting down his 2021 season.

He only reappeared late in the year to contest an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, before playing just three official matches – to win the Melbourne Summer Set – ahead of his AO 2022 campaign.

According to former world No.15 Wally Masur, there may have been a silver lining to Nadal’s physical struggles.

"Sometimes when you have been a little bit injured, and you've done all the work but you're not sure (how you'll fare when you return), you do go in with less expectation,” Masur said.

“Sometimes when you're full of expectation things don't quite go your way; it's not the best place to be mentally. But maybe just expectation was down, and he was just enjoying being back on the court and competing, and we saw the absolute best of him (in Melbourne). And we continue to see the absolute best of him.

"I just think when the chips are down, and he's been injured, and the chips were down in several matches (so far in 2022), he's just got so many good behaviours and habits, so many years of hard work to draw upon, so many positive routines.

"We should never doubt the champions. Never, never doubt the champions. They keep showing you something.”

Assuming he receives no walkovers, Nadal would eclipse that three-way tie for 17-0 by winning his fourth-round match at Indian Wells and advancing to the quarterfinals – a stage he has reached 11 times previously at the tournament.

And should Nadal find himself at that point, only Djokovic would have enjoyed a better start to a season in the past 34 years.

Nadal is a three-time Indian Wells champion with a 54-10 career win-loss record at the event; this 84 per cent winning rate is better than what he has produced at any of the six hard-court Masters tournaments.

A possible fourth trophy in the Californian desert would see Nadal notch a maximum six match victories, potentially boosting his 2022 win-loss record to 21-0.

And then he would be just a few weeks out from the clay-court season, although the Miami Open – a tournament he is yet to win – stands between Indian Wells and a return to his beloved red dirt.

"I certainly won't put a ceiling on what Rafa can achieve,” Masur said.

"I think if he's playing this well on the hard courts... I don't like to prognosticate in terms of matches that he can win consecutively because it almost seems impossible; 15 in a row, (potentially) 17, 18, 19, it just seems quite incredible at that level. I'm loathe to say what he can do. 

“I will say the French is looking pretty positive for him. If he can play this well on hard court, it's gotta put a spring in his step when he gets to Paris in May.

"But maybe we've got to be a bit like Rafa; over the years, has there been a better player at just living in the now? The past is done. The next point hasn't happened yet. He’s here, right now. This is what he does, and this is what matters most. 

“Maybe we just sit back and enjoy Rafa in the now, because it seems to be how he approaches it.”

Editor’s note: John McEnroe did produce a stunning 42-0 start to 1984, but at that time the tennis circuit and calendar looked very different, making direct comparisons challenging.

McEnroe began the year playing the Masters at Madison Square Garden – the Masters of 1983, played in January 1984 – and competed for the first four months of that year on carpet. He ultimately lost his first match of the season in May in the Roland Garros final.

He skipped the Australian Open, which was then a 96-player event held on grass from late November to early December.