Nadal joins Millennial club: 4th man to reach 1,000 wins
PARIS — Becoming only the fourth man to reach 1,000 match wins should have drawn deafening cheers and a standing ovation for Rafael Nadal.
Instead, he reached his milestone amid a cathedral-like silence Wednesday in a 20,000seat stadium left empty because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was only a fistbump from Feliciano Lopez, after Nadal beat him 46, 76 ( 5), 64 in a subdued atmosphere more worthy of a library study area than a sports arena.
“The real feeling, the personal feeling is completely different,” Nadal said. “It makes a big difference that the court is empty.”
Nadal, 34, joins towering company in Jimmy Connors ( 1,274), Roger Federer ( 1,242) and Ivan Lendl ( 1,068) as the only men’s 1,000club members since the Open era began in 1968.
“I know it is a very special number, one thousand,” Nadal said. “Even if it’s not the same to celebrate something like this without a crowd.”
Nadal smiled as he posed at the net with the number 1,000 displayed on the court in a brief ceremony, and then walked off center court like after any other match.
It was the second milestone he reached in Paris this year, having won the French Open last month to tie Federer on 20 majors. But though 1,000 fans cheered him at Roland Garros, none were at the Bercy Arena.
“Of course, it’s sad. The level of energy is difficult to compare,” Nadal said. “So the feeling, even if 1,000 ( fans) or 1,500 or 2,000 is not a lot.”
Nadal’s first win came in May 2002 at the age of 15, when he beat Paraguayan Ramon Delgado in the first round at Mallorca.
A year later, a 16yearold Nadal stunned the tennis world by beating French Open champion Albert Costa under floodlights in the second round at the Monte Carlo Masters.
By the age of 24, he already had reached 500 wins. His career resume also includes 35 Masters titles and 86 tournament victories overall.
Lopez, 39, won their first meeting back in 2003 and had beaten Nadal four times overall. Lopez had 22 aces and troubled a sluggish Nadal, who failed to convert six break points in the second set but broke immediately at the start of the third.
“I started the match the worst way possible, especially against a big server like Feli,” Nadal said. “After that, I played under a lot of pressure the rest of the match, but I found a way.”
Nadal, who has never won this tournament, next plays Jordan Thompson of Australia, who upset 15thseeded Borna Coric 26, 64, 62.