Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal set to achieve different '1000th' milestones in same week

Arch-rivals and close friends, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are all set to reach two major milestones this week. Roger Federer has only played one tournament this year, the Australian Open, where he lost the semi-finals to the eventual champion Novak Djokovic. Federer pulled out of the rest of the 2020 season in order to recuperate from two knee surgeries after initially declaring that he would be back for the now-cancelled grass season. Nadal has also had an average year, winning just two titles, but with huge personal achievements.

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Federer and Nadal set for back to back milestones

The new ATP rules have come as a blessing to the Roger Federer ATP ranking. In any other year, the World No.4 would have dropped considerably in the rankings if he had taken an extended hiatus from the game such as this. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tennis body has decided to let players keep their points from the tournaments they played in 2019, which has helped Federer stay on No.4. This Monday, Federer crossed 1000 weeks within the ATP's Top 20 rankings. 

His first brush with the top 20 was in 2001 when he won his first ATP title in Milan. After a small dip two weeks later, Federer came back up into the top 20 and has stayed there ever since. He is followed by Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors on 868 and 860 weeks respectively. This is a testament to his longevity in the sport that he has confirmed he intends to extend in 2021. 

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For Rafael Nadal, his record will be more of a personal record as he goes into the Paris Masters 2020. Rafa, who has never won at the tournament, will hope to win his 1st title here and equal Djokovic's recent record of 36 ATP Masters 1000 titles. After his defeat to Diego Schwartzman at the Rome Masters 2020, Rafa was left hanging at 999 lifetime ATP match wins. Now, at the Paris Masters 2020, Rafa will clash with fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez to complete this landmark victory. 

He will join Federer, who has 1,242 wins from 1,513 matches,as the only other player to have 1000 lifetime ATP match wins. Following him will be the current World No.1 Novak Djokovic who has 932 wins from 1,122 matches. 

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Nadal vs Federer head to head 

The Nadal vs Federer head to head stands at 24-16 in favour of Rafa. The pair last met at the Wimbledon Championships in 2019 where Federer won in four sets. The same year, Rafa defeated Federer in straight sets at the French Open. 

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Image Credits: AP