Two days ago, Rafael Nadal celebrated his 32nd birthday. Yesterday, he made sure the celebrations continued by defeating 70th-ranked German Maximilian Marterer, joining the 900 wins’ club in the process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-o2Mrwg_v0
By recording his 83rd clay-court victory in his 85th match at Roland Garros, Nadal is now the fifth member of “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”. Its exclusive members are: Jimmy Connors (1,056), Roger Federer (1,149), Ivan Lendl (1,068) and Guillermo Vilas (949). It’s an amazing achievement for the Spaniard, whose fascinating career has been derailed by knee issues. At a time when Djokovic and then Federer were dominating, Nadal had to sit back and watch how his rivals share the spoils without him. A lion at heart, Rafa never gave up and here he is, back as world’s top ranked tennis player, back where it all began, in Paris.
His clay court domination is unlike anything the tennis world has ever seen. Rafael Nadal is after his 11th French Open title. The 16-time Grand Slam champion has won 37 consecutive sets at Roland Garros, just four shy of Bjorn Borg’s record set between 1979 and 1981. He’ll be looking for numbers 38, 39 and 40 in a quarter-final clash with Diego Schwartzmann, the 11th seeded Argentinian who came back from two sets down to defeat 6th-ranked Kevin Anderson. A win against this Argentinian will put Rafa Nadal on a semi-final collision course with another one – Juan Martin Del Potro, one of the few players on tour who has a theoretical chance at giving “The Bull” a run for his money.
The World No. 1 has lost only twice since the calendar turned. The first time was in the Australian Open quarter-finals, where he had to retire at 2-2 and forfeit victory to Marin Cilic. The second time was in Madrid, where 5th-ranked Austrian Dominic Thiem surprised Nadal in straight sets on his way to the final, where he lost to Alexander Zverev. Those are the only two stains in an otherwise perfect season that should culminate with a 17th Grand Slam title in France. In the meantime, this is what the birthday boy had to say about his age:
“I don’t feel old. But I am 32, and I have been here since 2003, so it’s a long way, a lot of years,”
“I started very young. That’s a real thing. But, no, I feel happy to be here. Being honest, I am enjoying the day by day on the tour and I hope to keep doing this for a while.”
He still has a lot of work to do. After all, Nadal is 100 wins away from 1000, so the mission is not accomplished yet. His legacy is still being written. Hopefully, the injuries are behind him and his health will grant him permission to do it. For now, celebrate Rafa! You’ve earned it.
*Quotes taken from sports.inquirer.net
