"Nadal the man to beat" - says Indian Wells CEO Tommy Haas on the event

There are several younger players knocking on the door, but Rafael Nadal is the favourite to win the BNP Paribas Open, according to tournament director Tommy Haas.

Nadal has been in superb form so far this campaign as he opened his season by winning the Melbourne Summer Set and followed it up by winning the Australian Open to become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles. And he continued his unbeaten start to 2022 at the Mexican Open a fortnight ago as he won the title to go 15-0 for the year.

Speaking to the Tennis Paradise Podcast, Haas admitted that he feels Nadal is the man to beat:

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“Rafa Nadal is now 35-years-old and he’s never had a start to the season like this one, coming back from injury, winning three titles. He is, in my opinion, the guy to beat here, there is no doubt about it. And he obviously enjoys it here very much.”

Haas also added:

“There are younger guys like [Andrey] Rublev, you look at [world No 1 Daniil] Medvedev trying to prove a point, [Alexander] Zverev, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, there are a lot of guys knocking on the door but Nadal has to be the favourite going into Indian Wells.”