3 Milestones Rafael Nadal could achieve at Indian Wells 2024

Rafael Nadal will participate in this year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which gets underway on Saturday, March 9. The Spaniard played in the Brisbane International last January but was not able to take part in the subsequent Australian Open owing to the recurrence of an injury.

Nadal does not have too many years left in tennis and would like to win as many matches as possible before he decides to retire.

In this article, we are going to take a look at three milestones that Rafael Nadal could achieve in Indian Wells.

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#3 Becoming the second player to win two titles in the space of more than a decade

Nadal last won the title in Indian Wells in 2013, beating Juan Martin del Potro in the final. However, he has failed to win the title since then, despite coming close on several occasions. He lost to Taylor Fritz in the final in Indian Wells in 2022, thereby missing an opportunity to break the spell.

However, if he goes on to win the title on March 17, he will become the second-ever player to win it in the space of more than a decade. He should find it extremely hard to do, but the chances of it happening cannot be ruled out altogether.

Roger Federer is the only player to have won the title more than a decade apart. Federer won his first and last titles in Indian Wells in 2004 and 2017, respectively.

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#2 Rafael Nadal could win the title in three different decades

Rafael Nadal has won the Indian Wells title thrice in 2007, 2009, and 2013. Should he go on to win another one this year, he will attain the remarkable feat of winning it in three different decades.

No player has achieved that feat yet, not even the redoubtable Novak Djokovic. Each member of the big three - Nadal, Federer and Djokovic - has won the tournament in two different decades. Winning a Masters 1000 title at this stage of his career will undoubtedly be yet another testimony to the Spaniard's longevity as a player.

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#1 Becoming the oldest player to win the title

Roger Federer remains the oldest player to have won the title at the moment, achieving the feat at the age of 35 in 2017. Thus, Rafael Nadal will have a chance to overtake him by winning it at the age of 37.

The Spaniard came close to winning it at 35, but was pipped at the post by Fritz. He will like to make amends by winning his fourth title this time around. It remains to be seen whether he is able to do so. However, the odds are quite not in the favor of him being able to do so.