With his opponent coming in on a 13-match winning-streak, Taylor Fritz could have been forgiven for buckling under the pressure.

Yet the American admitted his underdog status had given him licence to play without pressure against the in-form Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday, as he clinched a 7-5, 6-4 win to become the first American man to reach the championship match in Indian Wells since John Isner in 2012.

“It’s awesome,” said Fritz at his post-match press conference. “I feel like I’ve served really well all week [but] prior to today didn’t play my best tennis from the back of the court. I feel like a little bit of that was nerves, kind of seeing the draw open up, playing these matches where I kind of expect myself to win.

“Today was a bit different. I knew that I had to play to a certain level. I couldn’t play the way I was playing previous matches. So I played by far my best match today from the ground, especially. I hit the ball really well, so [it is] definitely kind of the confidence booster I need going into the final, to feel like I am really playing my best tennis.

“Those moments are the reason why I wanted to be an athlete, wanted to play professional tennis. It’s the best part of it all.”

The 20th seed now attempts to become the first man to defeat Rafael Nadal in 2022 in Sunday’s final. The pair has met only once on the ATP Tour, in the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco in 2020. The Spaniard ran out a 6-3, 6-2 winner that day but Fritz is not worried about past experiences affecting him during the clash in Indian Wells.

“I think my level’s so much higher than then,” said the American. “So I maybe won’t be feeling like I need to pull the trigger so much, need to do so much. I can just play more within myself.”

Despite his own improvements, Fritz knows what to expect from the relentless Spaniard and acknowledges he will need to hit his peak level if he wants to pull off a famous victory in front of his home fans.

“He [Nadal] is always going to be there every point, he’s not going to give you anything,” said Fritz. “It’s just the competitiveness, he’s always going to want it so bad.

“From my standpoint, maybe I’m not going to get completely served off the court, I can potentially get looks at return games. But he’s such a good returner that it [also] works the other way, he’s going to get looks at my serves. I’ve been serving great all week, but he’ll still return my serve.”

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Looking at the bigger picture of his 2022 season, Fritz will not be putting too much pressure on getting a result on Sunday and will view his run at Indian Wells as a positive regardless of whether he ends up lifting the trophy.

“This is a long season,” said the World No. 20. “So I’m going to go out, play the final tomorrow just like I played the match today. If I win that’s awesome. If I lose, it’s a good week. I’m going to go just play my style of tennis and I’m not going to let the moment affect me.

“It’s a great start to the year either way, and [I will] regroup, build on it, and keep these results coming the rest of the year. I really do feel like once you have certain results, it makes it a lot easier for me to repeat it and do it again, once I have that confidence that I’ve been there before.”

The 2019 Eastbourne champion believes coming face to face with Nadal once again will only help him in his pursuit of further success in 2022. He takes inspiration from the Spaniard, as well as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, as he tries to emulate some of their achievements.

“I think [it is] amazing [how] you can have three guys that are so incredibly good, that all have a completely different process of going about their training and their business, and how there’s not one way or one thing that they do to become the best.

“It’s really interesting seeing how they all have different processes. It’s just really cool seeing that they all have their own way that works for them and as a younger player it’s good knowing that you do what works for you.”

Source Tennis – ATP World Tour