Rafael Nadal’s last Indian Wells win 10 years ago – and what’s next for the 22-time Grand Slam champion

Watching back the 2013 Indian Wells final between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro there is one word that keeps coming to mind: How?

How was Del Potro’s forehand that good?

And how did Nadal keep on retrieving even the most punishing of those forehands?

It was one of the great Masters finals of the current era – and one that preceded arguably Nadal’s greatest season on tour.

Comeback kid

When Nadal returned after 222 days out with injury on February 5, contending for his first hard-court title in almost three years at Indian Wells was probably not on his mind.

The main focus was how his troublesome knee would hold up.

On clay it looked good enough as Nadal made the final in his first event back, won in Sao Paulo, and then crushed top seed David Ferrer in the final of the Mexican Open.

“I would have never imagined playing at the level that I played today,” Nadal said after the final. “I’m leaving happy and surprised.”

Nadal had said during the tournament that the knee was still “bothering” him at times, but he was ready to test it out on the hard courts.

“Indian Wells is one of my favourite tournaments and I want to keep competing because the knee is holding up and my heart says that I can do it, and compete is what I want to do now.”

If Nadal’s Latin American clay-court return was a way to ease himself back into action on his favourite surface, Indian Wells was going full throttle again.

After beating Ryan Harrison in his opening match, Nadal got a bye in the third round and was then pushed to three sets by Ernests Gulbis, who was riding a 13-match winning streak.

The result set up a quarter-final clash with Roger Federer, who had just beaten Stan Wawrinka in a tight three-setter.

“This match arrives too early for me to go to the match with the feeling that I can play equal conditions,” said Nadal ahead of meeting Federer. “Two weeks ago, I didn’t know if I would be able to be here. Being in the quarter-finals is a fantastic result for me, and we’ll see.”

Despite his apparent doubts, Nadal cruised past Federer, who was seemingly bothered by a back issue, 6-4 6-2, to reach the semi-finals, where he dispatched Tomas Berdych in straight sets.

“It’s very, very difficult to imagine something like this,” said Nadal after reaching the final. “I did much more than what I dreamed.”

Del Potro had come through a difficult draw to reach the final, beating 19th seed Tommy Haas in the fourth round and then coming from a set down to beat third seed Murray and top seed Djokovic.

It was the first meeting between Nadal and Del Potro since they faced off in the 2011 Davis Cup final, when Nadal’s singles win clinched victory for Spain over Argentina.

The 2013 Indian Wells final was a bruising encounter, Del Potro unleashing on his forehand to win the first set and get up a break in the second. Just as incredible as Del Potro’s hitting was Nadal’s scrambling and ability to get seemingly lost balls back into play. He stuck with Del Potro when he was striking the ball brilliantly, and then upped his own game when the moment came.

The final set in particular saw Nadal start to play more aggressively on his forehand and he fell to the floor in celebration after clinching a memorable win.

“It’s probably one of the most emotional victories of my career,” said Nadal after clinching his 22nd ATP Masters title and 600th singles win.

One of Nadal’s ‘proudest’ seasons

Nadal’s victory at Indian Wells was the precursor for one of his best seasons on tour.

After skipping the Miami Open to rest his knee, he returned in dominant fashion on clay. His only loss on the surface came in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters to Djokovic, as he won titles in Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and Paris.

A shock first-round loss to Steve Darcis at Wimbledon swiftly ended hopes of a third title at SW19, but Nadal rebounded in style over the summer, beating Djokovic and Federer over successive weeks as he won the Canadian Open and the Western & Southern Open.

Going into the US Open, Nadal was a remarkable 15-0 on hard courts for 2013, a record that would have probably seemed inconceivable at the start of the season given his knee issues.

In New York, he romped through a relatively soft draw to reach the final, where he faced Djokovic.

Nadal had won five of the last six meetings against Djokovic, having lost the previous seven in a row.

Djokovic looked below-par in the opening set but bounced back to level at one-set all. Perhaps the key moment of the contest came at 4-4 in the third set when Nadal saved three break points to hold. He broke in the next game to clinch the set, and then broke again early in the fourth set as he marched to his 13th Grand Slam title.

“Djokovic was so good in the second set and the third. But Rafael was always there, there, there, and in the end, he won,” said Nadal’s coach at the time, Toni Nadal. “He was so strong in his mind. That was the difference.”

Nadal would finish the year by making the semi-finals in Shanghai and Paris, before losing to Djokovic in the final of the ATP Finals. He was the year-end No. 1 for the third time.

Nadal said a few years ago that his 2013 season was one he holds in the highest regard.

“The thing that I am most proud about in my career probably is the 2013 year, 2013 was amazing. Because I had too many problems with my knee, so I was not able to practise at all, and I finished the year being world No. 1, winning here [at the French Open], winning the US Open. So that’s the thing that I am most proud of.”

Nadal hard-court peak?

At various times during his career, Nadal’s hard-court qualities have been doubted. There have been questions about whether he could continue to challenge for titles on hard courts due to his knees, and whether his game was up to the same level as Djokovic, Federer and Murray on the surface.

By the end of 2013, there appeared no doubts. This was arguably Nadal’s hard-court peak.

He had won the US Open and Indian Wells before, but never again in his career has he tripled up over the North American hard-court summer as he did in 2013. In fact, since 2013, Nadal has only played the Canadian Open and the Western & Southern Open in the same season twice. He has also won just two hard-court Masters events since.

With his withdrawal from Indian Wells this year, it’s fair to wonder if Nadal will ever return to the tournament. He has played it just twice in the last five years, and has not played at the Miami Open since 2017.

But his longevity on hard courts is remarkable. Surely few would have expected Nadal to continue challenging for titles on the surface at 36, even when he won Indian Wells so impressively in 2013. Last year, he showed he can still contend as he won the Australian Open, ATP Acapulco, and made the final of Indian Wells.

Is there still another hard-court title in his career?

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