Rafael Nadal joins Roger Federer in elite 1000 ATP match wins club with win in Paris

After winning a record-extending 13th French Open title and earning his 20th Grand Slam title to equal record of his long-time rival Roger Federer, Rafael Nal has ded yet ar record to his name. Spaniard has won 2 titles this year, firstly at Acapulco and n of course, at French Open. With his Round 1 win at Paris Masters, Rafa has w joined an elite club of men with 1000 life-time ATP match wins.

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Rafael Nal 1000 ATP wins

34-year-old Rafael Nal started his journey in professional tennis at of 15, all way back in 2002. A lot has changed since n. Nal has gone from brusque challenger who dared to defeat darling of tennis world, Roger Federer, to becoming one of most loved players on tour. Gone also, is initial assumption that Rafa would t be a real threat to draw, owing to his proclivity towards clay courts and his multiple injury scares.

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With his 4-6, 7⁷-6⁵, 6-4 win over Spanish compatriot Felicia López, Nal became just 4th person in Open Era to win 1000 lifetime matches at professional level. He was close to this milestone at Rome Masters 2020 but lost out by just one match after he crashed out in quarter-finals. He joins Federer (1242 wins), Jimmy Conrs (1274 wins) and Ivan Lendl (1,068 wins) in this elite club. 

Nal 1st ATP win and Nal ranking through years

A young Rafael Nal won his first-ever ATP match in 2002 when he defeated Paraguay's Ramon Delgo, n World . 81, in a first-round encounter at Mallorca Open. current World .2 was t even in Top 100 rankings back n. Rafa won his first ATP title in 2004 at Sopot. By next year, Rafa h broken into top ten of ATP rankings and ended 2005 as World .2. He has t slipped past .10 ever since, which is 789 weeks as of w. 

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Plagued with injuries in 2012 and again from 2014-2017, Nal just mand to keep himself within Top 10. Even though worst of his years, he has played at eugh smaller events, like ATP Masters 250 events. His worst year since his break into top 10 was 2015-16 when he slipped to .10. se were only two years that Nal did t win a single Grand Slam title since 2005. A credit to his gritty nature, Nal is w on verge of a breakthrough to overtake Djokovic as .1 and halt his dream run to surpass Federer as player with most weeks at top.

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Im Credits: ATP website