The defence of his singles title at Indian Wells came to an end against Ivan Ljubicic in the semifinals on Saturday, but Rafael Nadal returned to the court a few hours later to lift the doubles title with Marc Lopez.
Nadal and his unheralded partner, a wildcard team, defeated top seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 7-6(8), 6-3.
Reacting to his loss against Ljubicic in a 2 1/2 hour match, Nadal said he was jittery in the tiebreaker and added that the swirling wind lessened his advantage from the baseline.
“That was an accident today,” he said. "That's my feeling, because I was playing enough well to win the tournament. It was important accident, and I have to learn to try to play more aggressive next time and try to convert the opportunities.”
After holding break points in the second and third set, Nadal lost seven straight points in the tiebreaker. “I was more
nervous than passive," he said. "Because I never had to arrive to this tiebreak… That's tennis. I played bad. I gonna try to win in Miami.”