Rafael Nadal (Photo : Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal will try to open his Indian Wells campaign on a winning note when he faces Luxembourgish Gilles Muller in the second round of the tournament.
After succumbing to a two-week losing streak in his last three tournaments, Nadal will have a chance to start anew when he competes at Indian Wells.
Nadal enters his second round clash against Muller as the favorite, having won three of their four meetings, including the last two at the US Open and Wimbledon back in 2011. The 29-year-Mallorcan's only defeat to the world No. 45 only came in the Round 64 of Wimbledon more than 10 years ago.
However, Nadal's recent struggles to win matches may change the odds for Muller, who defeated Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos 7-5 6-3.
In Nadal's stints at the Australian Open earlier this year, he suffered an unexpected early exit against compatriot Fernando Verdasco, who took the world No. 5 to another epic battle. Nadal's next competition at the Argentina Open and Rio Open also came to disappointments losing in the semifinals against Dominic Thiem and Pablo Cuevas, respectively.
Nadal then realized he has been lacking consistency when playing important matches, which he hopes to establish at the Californian desert.
"Clearly when you lose two weeks in a row with good chances to qualify for the final it's never good, I fought until the end, I have had a good mentality accepting difficulties and fighting, but I lacked consistency in the important moments," Nadal said, reports Tennis World USA.
"I lacked a little bit of luck, I hope it goes better."
But Nadal would need more than luck at Indian Wells if he wishes to make it to the later rounds of the first ATP 1000 Masters event of the season, with the Spaniard in another potential clash with Verdasco in the next round.
Verdasco won his opening round match against Canada's Peter Polansky 7-6(4) 6-3 and will face Slovak Martin Klizan in their Round of 64 match-up.
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