5 records that may never be Rafael Nadal's
Rafael Nadal is known as one of the fiercest competitors in tennis. The Spaniard plays every point of every game as if his life depends on it.
During his stellar 17-year professional career, Nadal has racked up numerous wins, titles, and records. The various records the southpaw has to his name include: a staggering total of 12 titles at Roland Garros, 10 or more title wins at 3 different tournaments (12 at Roland Garros, 11 each at Monte Carlo and Barcelona), and being one of only five players in the Open Era to win the career Grand Slam (all 4 major titles during the course of one's career).
Unreal, right? Nope, just Rafa things!
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Nadal's 81-match win streak on clay (2005 Monte Carlo to 2007 Hamburg) is the longest by any player in the Open Era on any surface (Federer has 65 on grass, McEnroe had 65 on carpet, Federer again with 56 on hard court). Other than that, he leads the all-time ATP Masters 1000 match wins (384) and title wins (35) and is one of the only three players in the world to contest over 50 title matches in the tournament category.
The Mallorcan's 13 Grand Slam-winning seasons and 10-consecutive seasons of winning a Grand Slam title are unrivaled by any other player in the Open Era. His total of 19 Grand Slam titles is only behind Roger Federer's tally of 20. He also became the oldest year-end world no. 1 (33-years-old) following Novak Djokovic's group-stage exit at the 2019 ATP Finals.
While Nadal has the best career win-loss record of any player (to have played over 200 singles matches) in the Open Era, here are a few milestones which may elude the grasp of the legendary left-hander:
# 5: Win all 9 Masters 1000 tournaments
The all-time Masters 1000 title leader (35) has won 11 titles in Monte Carlo. Nadal's 'undecima' at the Principality is the most Masters 1000 titles won by a player at one tournament.
One of only three active players, the others being Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, to have reached the finals at all nine Masters 1000 tournaments in a calendar year, the Spaniard is winless in five finals in Miami, two finals in Shanghai, and one in Paris-Bercy.
Nadal came the closest to lifting the Miami title when he lost the deciding set tiebreak to Djokovic in 2011. He has lost both his title matches in Shanghai (2009 to Nikolay Davydenko and 2017 to Roger Federer) and his lone final at the Paris-Bercy Masters (2007 to David Nalbandian in straight sets).
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