French Open 2018: Rafael Nadal becomes the third men’s singles player to record 80 wins at a single Grand Slam
What’s the story?
Rafael Nadal and records at Roland Garros are nothing new. The top seed and World No. 1 was sluggish for most parts of his first round match against lucky loser, Simone Bolelli, but managed to complete the win in straight sets in the end.
After battling for 2 hours 57 minutes over two days, the 10-time champion notched up a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(9) win, having saved four set points in the third set. The win -- his 80th at the French Open -- enabled him to become just the third player on the ATP World Tour after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer to record at least 80 victories at a single Major tournament.
Connors has a staggering 98 wins beside his name at the US Open, where he has been a five-time champion. Besides that, he also won 84 matches at Wimbledon.
Federer achieved his highest number of wins (94) at the Australian Open, a tournament he has won six times. At SW19, he has had 91 wins, followed by 82 at the Flushing Meadows.
In case you didn’t know
In a rare occasion, Nadal had to play his first round match for two consecutive days after it was suspended on Monday due to rain and poor light.
The heart of the matter
The southpaw, who is bidding for a record 11th title in Paris, did not have the best of starts to his campaign. He won the first two sets 6-4, 6-3, but trailed 0-3 in the third set when play was called for the day.
As the match progressed on Monday, Bolelli grew in confidence and started ripping winners off both the wings, pushing Nadal on the backfoot. A passive Rafa trailed by an early break even in the second set at 2-3, from where he succeeding in clinching four games on the trot to snatch the set.
When the match resumed on Tuesday, Nadal made in-roads into the Bolelli serve soon enough but wasn’t able to hold him off totally.
In the ensuing tie-break, the Italian went up 6-3 to have as many as three set points, all of which were saved by the 16-time Grand Slam champion. Bolelli had yet another set point, which was again duly saved by a resilient Nadal.
Then the Spaniard had to work hard to grab the win on his third match point.
What’s next?
Rafa will play his second round against World No. 78 Guido Pella. The Argentine defeated Joao Sousa 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in his opener.
Do you think this tough win will motivate Nadal to improve his performance? Have your say in the comments.