(Tennis news) American tennis player Taylor Fritz ended Rafael Nadal’s 20 game unbeaten streak to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Indian Wells. Both players were guilty of errors as Fritz took the first set while the pair ended up in a tiebreak for the second, with neither player having lost in that situation throughout the tournament. However, the 24 year old World Number 20 won the match 6-3 7-6 (7-5), becoming the first American to win the tournament since Andre Agassi’s victory in 2004.

Speaking after the match, Fritz said “This is just one of those childhood dreams you just think would never come true. 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."

Fritz’s ankle injury almost ruled him out against Nadal in the finals and the Spaniard was also not feeling at his best, picking up a chest issue in the three set semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal said “When I'm breathing, when I'm moving, 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 limits me a lot. It's not only about pain, I don't feel very well because it affects my breathing. More than sadness for the loss, (it's) something that I accepted immediately and even before the match ended. I'm suffering a little bit, honestly." 

The 35 year old has already decided not to play in the Miami Open and will be taking a short break before the beginning of the clay court season next month. Speaking after his defeat, Nadal said “I wanted to make it perfect before clay. It has been very, very, very beautiful. Honestly I am sad because of the way I was not able to compete. It's tough to have these feelings every day, but in the final it's very, very ugly. But I am not the kind of person that goes down or goes very high emotionally depending on the moment. I am normally stable, putting everything in perspective.

"Of course, the last two months have been amazing, unforgettable and very emotional. I enjoyed things that I never thought I could live again a few months ago. Now is the moment to try to solve this problem as soon as possible, try to start on clay. The thing that worries me is about what's going on there, what I have to do now to recover and how long it's going to take."

In the women’s category, Poland's Iga Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1 to lift the title. Speaking after the match, the World Number 2 said “We've already started a pretty cool rivalry and I think it's going to last a few more years so it's pretty exciting. We're going to play many more finals. Today was pretty crazy because of the conditions. My team did an amazing job." Meanwhile, Sakkari said “Obviously it wasn't my day. There's not much I can say about the way I played. Clearly it was windy. We were both struggling with our serves in the beginning of the match. (But the) wind is never an excuse because wind is for both of us." 

Also read: Nadal progresses to semis at Indian Wells while Alcaraz defeats Norrie