So it is Indian Wells - the hard courts where Nadal steps on after missing major tennis since Wimbledon to test his knee away from his favourite clay.
Nadal plays his first match of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event against Ryan Harrison and is quite optimistic about his form and fitness.
“I feel very good. I've practiced two times here,” said Nadal. “But seriously, I understand my situation after seven months. I think it’s not the right moment to talk about the knee. I am here to try my best and that’s what I’m going to try. We’ll see how the knee responds on hard. The results on clay were positive, especially because the knee was feeling better and better every week, especially last week. Now I’m going to try here.”
Nadal who has slipped to fifth notch on the world ranking will be taking on 73rd ranked American Ryan Harrison, whom he has not played before.
Nadal has played all his previous ten matches on clay, losing only one at Vina del Mar (CHI), while Harrison has played all his matches on hard/i_Hard courts but has lost five of the ten matches. Ryan moves to the second round beating G. Soeda 6-0 4-6 6-3 in the first round.
It may be added that Nadal has been drawn in the same quarter as defending titlist Roger Federer.
The ATP Indian Wells second round match between Nadal and Harrison is scheduled at 03:00 GMT Sunday, 10th March.
If you are one of the fans located at different destination and miss the chance to visit the stadium to watch your favorite team, You can now watch the match live on your laptop or desktop computer, FREE, provided you have an internet connection, from the links given below:
