Rafael Nadal's disappointing Indian Wells withdrawal: Should the Spaniard have skipped the Netflix Slam instead of making his injury worse?

Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. This is the second tournament the Spaniard has withdrawn from after the Australian Open in January. His most recent withdrawal also adds to the sizeable list of hardcourt tournaments he has pulled out of in the last few years.

Nadal featured in Netflix Slam alongside Carlos Alcaraz

Nadal faced his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz in a one-off exhibition match in Las Vegas on March 3, where the latter won 3-6, 6-4, 14-12. Going by the scoreline strictly, it was a competitive match and was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 10000.

However, the very purpose of the exhibition did not have much to do with tennis. It was a WWE-style entertainment, highly popular in the USA but not particularly appealing to purists.

It marked the second-ever sports program streamed live on Netflix. Previously, they organized a golf event involving PGA Tour players and F1 drivers, which, while novel, lacked significant sporting relevance, much like the match featuring Nadal and Alcaraz.

Anyway, Netflix likely experienced commercial gain through streaming revenue and ticket sales for the match, as there's certainly no shortage of lighthearted sports fans who enjoy watching such events.

Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from Indian Wells probably had little to do with Netflix Slam

However, playing in the Netflix Slam was not probably the main reason behind Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from Indian Wells.

The Spaniard perhaps chose to avoid the rigors of a competitive match at the ATP Masters 1000 event, considering his body's condition. He's wise to refrain from risking any exacerbation of his hip injury before the start of the European clay swing.

In this context, it has to be remembered that the same injury had forced Nadal out of the Australian Open. Besides, he is going to be 38 in a few months and there's a good chance he'll be retiring soon.

Even from a technical standpoint, it was evident that Nadal was not comfortable defending through his backhand side against Alcaraz in The Netflix Slam, who kept directing a lot of traffic towards that side. The Spaniard had to come up with slices frequently, most of which landed short and allowed Alcaraz to hit winners.

Hence, it probably was a wise move from the 22-time Major champion to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open, all things considered. The upcoming European clay swing — and not the Netflix Slam — is probably the reason behind it.