Nadal passes new milestone, earns quarterfinal berth

Another French Open win, and more career milestones for Rafael Nadal.

With a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4) win on Monday against German Maximilian Marterer, Nadal moved into the quarterfinals and above Jimmy Connors on the all-time list of match-winners at majors.

Connors won 233. Nadal has 234. Just Novak Djokovic, with 244 Grand Slam wins, and Roger Federer, with 332, are ahead of him.

But in his chase for a record-extending 11th title at Roland Garros, the only numbers Nadal seems to be keeping close track of are those on the scoreboard. It had, for example, seemingly escaped him that in beating Marterer, Nadal also notched his 900th career win on tour.

Such numbers are gauges to the impressive longevity and winning consistency of the Spaniard who turned 32 Sunday. “It’s a long way, a lot of years. I started very young,” he said. “I am enjoying the day-by-day on the tour and I hope to keep doing this for a while.”

Nadal’s next opponent, Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, will be playing his first Roland Garros quarterfinal. It will be Nadal’s 12th. The only other player with that many in the professional era is Djokovic, who plays his 12th quarterfinal against Marco Cecchinato of Italy.

Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic completed the quarterfinal lineup with wins. Cilic, runner-up at the Australian Open in January, was up two sets and seemingly cruising against Fabio Fognini before the Italian took the next two sets, saving a match point along the way. The third-seeded Cilic ultimately prevailed 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

Del Potro, Cilic’s next opponent, had a more straightforward 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win against big-serving John Isner, who served 12 aces but fell short of becoming the first American man to reach the quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003, despite hopeful chants of “U-S-A!, U-S-A!” from the crowd.

Marterer broke the defending champion in the first game, with Nadal looking more like the nervy debutant, serving a double fault at 15-40. But Rafa’s Law — the unwritten logic that he is practically unbeatable on the red clay in Paris — quickly prevailed.