Rafael Nadal battles back from the brink to reach Indian Wells third round

Rafael Nadal was forced to dig deep to reach the third round of Indian Wells on Saturday after the Spaniard fought back from two breaks down in the deciding set to defeat Sebastian Korda.

The Australian Open champion appeared in cruise control after racing through the first set, but it was a complete reversal in the second as Korda dominated. The American looked poised for one of the biggest wins of his career when he led Nadal 5-2 in the third set, only for the Spaniard to reel off four games in a row before taking the victory in the tiebreak.

"I feel very, very lucky today to be through," Nadal said after a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 win at the Masters 1000 tournament. "Sebastian was playing some fantastic tennis. I didn't play my best match without a doubt (but) a lot of credit to him that he played so aggressive and he put me in a lot of trouble."

There wasn't such trouble for new men's world No 1 Daniil Medvedev, who opened the action on Stadium court in and after saving a break point in the opening game had little trouble with Czech qualifier Tomas Machac.

The reigning US Open champion wrapped up a 6-3, 6-2 victory in 70 minutes, although Medvedev said it "was not as easy as it seems" after he sealed the win on a third match point. The difference, he said, was consistency.

"If you look, the first set was pretty even. He made just a few unforced errors and maybe some bad decisions in crucial moments. That's how tennis is sometimes," Medvedev said.

Medvedev said it was a "great feeling" to take the court as world No 1, "something I've always dreamed of", but he will have to reach the quarter-finals to prevent Novak Djokovic, absent this week due to US Covid-19 travel restrictions on the unvaccinated, from reclaiming the top spot.

Medvedev, who has never made it past the fourth round in four prior appearances, next faces France's Gael Monfils, who beat Serbian Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-4. The Russian said he would focus on playing well and winning matches and let the ranking take care of itself.

"The more tournaments you win, the more points you gain, the more chances you have to stay at this No 1 spot for more weeks, more time," he said.

Although he's not in the hunt for No 1, Nadal has been on fire this year. He improved his perfect 2022 record to 16-0 with a gritty victory that owed more to experience and determination than spectacular play.

Korda led the third set 5-2 and twice served for the match, but he couldn't conjure a match point as Nadal reeled off four games in a row as they went to a tiebreaker.

"I think it's true that probably he got a little bit more nervous," Nadal said. "He made a couple mistakes and I was able to save myself," added Nadal, who next plays Britain's Daniel Evans, a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Argentina's Federico Coria.

Nadal was joined in the third round by rising young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who beat American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3.

The 18-year-old Alcaraz, coming off a title at the Rio Open, converted five of his nine break chances and rallied from a break down in the second set to seal the win.

Defending champion Cameron Norrie also advanced as the British 12th seed defeated Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-3. He earned a rematch of last year's final against Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili, who advanced on a walkover when Italian veteran Fabio Fognini withdrew.

In the later matches in the men's draw, Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas battled past American Jack Sock 7-6, 3-6, 7-5, while Australia's Nick Kyrgios impressed in his 6-2, 6-2 win over Argentina's Federico Delbonis.