Nadal survives Lopez scare to notch 1,000th win
Rafael Nadal became the fourth man to win 1,000 Tourlevel matches on Wednesday by beating Feliciano Lopez at the Paris Masters, while Diego Schwartzman and Alexander Zverev also reached the third round.
The 34-year-old, who won a record-extending 13th French Open title across Paris at Roland Garros last month, followed Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Ivan Lendl in reaching the 1,000 mark.
The Spaniard had to fight back against fellow Spanish veteran Lopez, 39, but did enough to win 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Nadal was given a special presentation to celebrate his achievement after the match in a near-empty Bercy Arena, with the event being played behind closed doors after France entered its second coronavirus lockdown last week.
“It has been a special moment. I know it’s a very special number, 1000,” said the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
“Even if it’s not the same to celebrate something like this without a crowd, I enjoyed it with ATP, with the president of the French Federation, Guy Forget, supervisor and the ball boys.
“I enjoyed it and just can say thanks to all of them to make this moment a little bit more special.”
The top seed, bidding for a first Paris Masters title, will face Jordan Thompson in the third round after the Australian beat Croatia’s Borna Coric 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Taking the trophy in Paris this week would see Nadal equal Novak Djokovic’s record of 36 Masters titles.
Earlier on Wednesday, Argentinian Schwartzman moved within two wins of sealing a debut appearance at the ATP Tour Finals in London by beating Richard Gasquet.
The 28-year-old Schwartzman was too strong for France’s Gasquet, taking a 7-5, 6-3 victory, and will next face Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last 16.
Schwartzman will secure the final spot at the season-ending tournament by reaching the semi-finals in Paris, but would qualify even if he fails to do so, as long as neither Pablo Carreno Busta nor Milos Raonic win the title.
“I have it in my hands but I have to say that I’m watching the other matches,” said the sixth seed. “I want to be there so I’m doing my best on court.”