Rafael Nadal, who has reached his fourth Indian Wells singles final, says his biggest challenge upon returning to the tour after seven months off due to a knee injury was re-learning point construction and how to react in big situations.
“You have a point that you really have to win, like a break point against, like a break point on your favor, and when you are playing tournaments every week and when you are on confidence, even you can change your tactic for a moment,” said Nadal. "You have your routines and you know what to do in every moment and you have a pre-strategy. You have to remember all these kind of things. Sure, physical performance is impossible to be 100 percent, because even if you practiced a lot at home—that was not my case—you need to compete to feel 100 percent ready. You need to compete to feel quick, to recover the right vision of the points and the nice reaction in every moment. Everything is new.”