'Very, very lucky' Nadal fends off fightback from big fan Korda to stay perfect in 2022

California, March 13: Rafael Nadal offered his sympathy to Sebastian Korda after scraping past the 21-year-old, who considers his Indian Wells Masters opponent "my biggest idol".

Korda had trained with Nadal earlier this week before the draw paired the two together – an eagerly awaited encounter for the younger man.

Korda is such a big Nadal fan his cat is named after the Spaniard, but he caused some concern for the 21-time major champion and his other supporters on Saturday (March 12).

Having talked up the meeting, it looked as though the occasion might get the better of Korda as he quickly fell 4-0 down in the opener.

Nadal had not dropped a set since victory at the Australian Open – one of three tournaments he has entered this year and three tournaments he has won.

But that perfect 15-0 record suddenly came under threat in the second set, as Korda sought to prolong his dream match-up and stunned his hero 6-1.

Suddenly, Nadal was forced to face down one of his biggest fans in a decider and initially struggled badly, falling two breaks down, with Korda serving for the match at 5-2.

This time the nerves did get to Korda, who lost four games in a row before stopping the rot to reach a tie-break.

There, Korda did briefly hold a mini-break lead, but that was only as part of a sequence of five consecutive mini-breaks that took the match away from him, Nadal prevailing 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-3).

WHAT A FIGHT. WHAT A MATCH.@RafaelNadal wins in in three sets 6-2 1-6 7-6 and keeps his winning streak alive 🔥@BNPPARIBASOPEN | #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/Xb1FnkAyMr

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 12, 2022

"I feel very, very lucky today to be through, honestly," Nadal said afterwards.

Korda could at least enjoy his consolation prize: compliments from Nadal, who had won their only prior meeting en route to his 2020 French Open title.

"Sebastian was playing some fantastic tennis and I'm sorry for him," Nadal said. "He had chances, but that's tennis.

"He's very young, he has an amazing future. I wish him all the best."

Up next for Nadal is Dan Evans, whose compatriot Cameron Norrie – the defending Indian Wells champion – also advanced with a straight-sets win over Pedro Martinez.