California, March 18: Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak to 19 matches in a row after he edged past Nick Kyrgios in three gripping sets to move into semifinals of the Indian Wells here on Thursday evening. Spain’s Nadal prevailed 7-6 (0), 5-7, 6-4 against Kyrgios of Australia. With the win, the Spaniard has further improved his head-to-head record against the Australian to 6-3. Nadal will next face the winner of the quarter-final between 12th seed Cameron Norrie and 19th seed Carlos Alcaraz. “I think for moments I played well,” Nadal said after the match.
“It’s difficult to play against him, always tough because he changes the dynamic of the point very quick and his serve is huge, especially the first serve. “I think I played a good third set. Returning better. I was solid with the serve; I just suffered in one game with my serve. Nick is one of these kind of players that you’re going to have problems when he’s motivated. “Tennis is all about the momentum sometimes. After the way that I finished the second with a couple of mistakes, I knew the beginning of the third will be so important and probably critical for me. So I needed to save the first couple of games, and then the match came back to normal and anything can happen.
‘”I decided to move in a little bit more, to try to change a little bit his visual position, try to create something different on him,” Nadal explained. “I think it worked. I was able to be quick with the hands, had some great returns on the first serve. “It’s all about finding the solution in every moment. In this sport it’s not only about how you feel comfortable. It’s about how you can make your opponent feel uncomfortable, too.” UNI
