Look Who's Back? Nadal Wins Indian Wells

The man who was out for 7 months and constantly complains about the stress hard courts put on his body has won the first Masters of the year in Indian Wells.  And he is joined in the winner's circle by the woman who played the steadiest tennis over the past year but came up short in several finals, including Indian Wells last year.

5) Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. 7) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 4-6 6-3 6-4
2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) def. 8) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 6-2 6-2

-Nadal wins his 53rd career title, 3rd of 2013, last '13 Acapulco
-It is his 22nd career Masters tile, last '12 Rome.  This puts him back in the lead of Federer for all-time Masters wins.
-It is his 3rd win at Indian Wells ('07,'09)
-It is his first hard court win since '10 US Open and his first hard court Masters since '09 Indian Wells
-He retakes the no. 4 ranking from Ferrer, which is critical entering the clay if he can hold onto it

-Sharapova wins her 28th career title, last '12 French Open
-It is her 11th "Tier I" title, last '12 Rome
-It is her 2nd win at Indian Wells ('06)
-It is her first hard court win since '11 Cincinnati
-She moves back to no. 2 in the world, passing Azarenka

With this win, Nadal has established himself as a threat in win each tournament he competes and will certainly be a favorite to win several titles during the clay season.  He did not play Djokovic or Murray but one would imagine he should be able to give them good matches as well.  Del Potro has also showed that he may finally be ready to take the next step forward and be a legitimate challenge the Big 4 after wins over Djokovic and Murray and taking a set from Nadal.  I now begin to wonder about Federer's viability going forward on the tour as he has yet to reach a final this year and seems to be passed by Djokovic, Murray, and Nadal and even has players like Berdych nipping at his heals.  But he has proved many wrong before.  We will soon see if this is a flash in the pan for Del Potro or if he has staying power, he reached his first Masters final since '09 Montreal.

Sharapova was able to cruise to this title relatively easily in the absence of Azarenka and Serena, so she should have confidence moving forward.  But since those two didn't play in the tournament's later rounds, we take the result with a grain of salt.  This was, however, an impressive result for Wozniacki, though Kerber was the player she came through to the final after Stosur pulled out.  She moved up to no. 9 in the world and should gain confidence as well.  Miami could be an interesting tournament with Serena and hopefully Azarenka back at it, and players such as Radwanska and Kvitova looking to bounce back.