3 Masters 1000 milestones awaiting Rafael Nadal in 2020
Rafael Nadal is the most decorated player in Masters 1000 history since the series was introduced exactly three decades ago.
The Spaniard has the most titles (35), most finals (51), and most match wins (384) of any player in the history of the tournament series. In his most recent Masters 1000 final at the 2019 Coupe Rogers in Toronto, Nadal beat first-time Masters 1000 finalist Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to successfully defend a hard-court title for the first time in his career.
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Nadal holds the records for most titles at a Masters 1000 tournament (11 at Monte Carlo), most finals at a Masters 1000 tournament (12 at Monte Carlo) and is the only player to win a title in the tournament category in 10 consecutive seasons (2005 to 2014) and 14 seasons overall - both records.
On that note, let us have a look at 3 Masters 1000 milestones Nadal could achieve in 2020.
#1: First player to record 400 Masters 1000 match wins
Since making his Masters 1000 debut in 2003 at Monte Carlo against Karol Kucera, Nadal has racked up 384 wins in the tournament category in 17 seasons. The Spaniard averages 22 Masters 1000 match wins every season, with a high of 35 wins in 2013 when he won five titles (Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, Coupe Rogers, and Cincinnati).
Nadal is on an eight-match win streak in Masters 1000 tournaments, having won his 35th title at the 2019 Coupe Rogers and won three matches at Paris-Bercy before withdrawing from his semifinal against Denis Shapovalov.
If the Spaniard were to continue his average tally of wins/season in the tournament category, he could breach the 400-win mark sometime during the clay swing at Monte Carlo, Madrid, or Rome.
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#2: First player to win 10 titles at multiple Masters 1000 tournaments
Nadal became the first player in Masters 1000 history to win 10 titles at a tournament when he lifted the 2017 Monte Carlo title after beating compatriot Albert Ramos Vinolas in the final.
In 2019, Nadal beat 34-time Masters 1000 titlist Novak Djokovic in a three-set final to lift his 9th title at the Rome Masters. The Spaniard' 11 titles in Monte Carlo, nine titles in Rome, and Roger Federer's seven titles in Cincinnati are the three largest title hauls by any player at a Masters 1000 tournament.
If the 33-year-old successfully defends his title in the Italian capital in 2020, it would see him become the first player in the history of the tournament category to win 10 titles at multiple tournaments.
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#3: First player in the Masters 1000 era to win 3 consecutive Coupe Rogers titles
With his win at the 2019 Coupe Rogers, Nadal successfully defended a hard-court title for the first time in his illustrious career.
If the Spaniard does a 'three-peat' at the 2020 Coupe Rogers in Toronto, it would make him the first player in the Masters 1000 era to do so.
In the Open Era, Ivan Lendl (1987-89) is the only player to have won three consecutive titles at the tournament. But all three of Lendl's titles came before the Masters 1000 series was conceptualised in 1990.