Fritz stops Nadal’s winning streak, earns Indian Wells title

Hours from playing in the biggest fi nal of his young career, Taylor Fritz was in severe pain. The prospect of having to withdraw against Rafael Nadal nearly had him in tears.

His coach urged him not to potentially risk damaging his sore ankle further. Fritz stubbornly refused to bow out.

His faith in himself paid off. Fritz upset Nadel 6-3, 7-6 (5) Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open and snap the 21-time major champion’s 20-match winning streak this year.

“It was a complete non-issue, didn’t feel it at all, didn’t hinder me at all,” said Fritz, who tweaked his ankle late in his semifi nal win over No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev. Blue medical tape could be seen above his high sock and he had it numbed before the final.

Nadal had his own health issue. He came into the match bothered by painful breathing that he fi rst experienced in a three-set semifi nal win. He took two medical timeouts during the fi nal. The fi rst one came after he lost the fi rst set. Nadal went inside with a trainer after tapping his upper left chest. He got treatment on court after falling behind 5-4 in the second set.

“When I try to breathe, it’s painful and it’s very uncomfortable. 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 limit me a lot,” said Nadal, who turns 36 in June.“He told me that I was going to win this tournament one day when I was a little kid,” Fritz said. “It was pretty tough not being emotional with my parents, especially my dad. He was just really, really proud of me. It’s really tough to get a compliment out of him.”

“I just kept telling myself there’s no reason why I can’t win this,” Fritz said.

Swiatek beats Sakkari to win title
Iga Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 Sunday in an error-fi lled fi nal to win the BNP Paribas Open. Swiatek will rise from fourth to a career-best No. 2 in the world in Monday’s WTA Tour rankings, trailing topranked Ash Barty, who skipped Indian Wells. “Right now, it’s too surreal to describe it, honestly,” Swiatek said.

“But for sure I want to go higher because I feel like getting the No. 1 is closer and closer.”

Sakkari will move from sixth to No. 3, the rising Greek star’s highest ranking yet. She equals countryman Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached No. 3 in the ATP Tour rankings.