Rafael Nadal says he suffered from breathing difficulties during his loss to Taylor Fritz in Indian Wells final

Rafael Nadal says he suffered from breathing difficulties during his straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss to Taylor Fritz at the Indian Wells final. Nadal, 35, appeared out of sorts and found himself 4-0 down before leaving the court for treatment.

He looked more comfortable on his return but struggled to break down a determined Fritz.

"It's tough for me to breathe. When I try to breathe, it's painful and it's very uncomfortable," said Nadal.

"When I'm breathing, when I'm moving it's like a needle all the time inside here. I get dizzy a little bit because it's painful. It's a kind of pain that limits me a lot. It's not only about pain, I don't feel very well because it affects my breathing."

Nadal had won his previous 20 matches in 2022, including the Australian Open title. But he made 34 unforced errors in the match compared to 22 from Fritz.

"Honestly I am sad because of the way I was not able to compete," he added. "The thing that worries me now, it's about what's going on there, what I have to do now to recover and how long it's going to take."