Rafael Nadal vs Taylor Fritz Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Indian Wells

Prediction published on 20/03/2022, 09:18  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 20/03/2022 at 10:19 in Tennis Predictions

Rafa Nadal attempts to continue his unbeaten record in 2022. He faces Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final and a win will make it four out of four tournament wins this year. It shows just how great Nadal is but also the faliure of the new generation to break the strangehold of the old guard. Nadal is the fourth seed for this tournament and he hasn't won the Indian Wells title in nine years. A win here will be his fourth Indian Wells title and he's the overwhelming favourite to do so. The Spaniard beat Carlos Alcarez in the semi-final and has only dropped sets to Sebastian Korda and Nick Kyrgios on his way to this final. He's only had one previous match against Fritz and that was also a final. Nadal beat the American for the loss of just five games in the 2020 Acapulco Final.

Taylor Fritz is the 20th seed and this is his seventh ATP Tour final. He hasn't got a great record in them though, his only win being on grass in Eastbourne, England three years ago. It's his first final since losing to Marin Cilic in St Petersburg last October. Fritz made a good start to this year with wins over both Cameron Norrie and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the ATP Cup. He then got to the last 16 of the Australian Open, nearly beating Stefanos Tsitsipas but losing in the final set. Before this week his best performance had been a quarter final in Dallas. He's had previous success at Indian Wells, reaching the semi-final last year. He's gone one better this time around and beat Andrey Rublev in the last four. This is tougher though, go for Nadal to win in straight sets.