MADRID: Thursday at the Madrid Open saw Rafael Nadal set a new milestone in his career, albeit one he is far from enthusiastic about.
A straight sets win over Diego Schwartzman made the world No.1 the first ATP player in the Open Era to win 50 consecutive sets on the same surface. Overtaking John Mcenroe’s record of 49 set on the carpet back in 1984. The Spaniard has been unbeaten on the clay since his loss to Dominic Thiem at last year’s Italian Open.
“I’m in the quarter-finals in Madrid. That’s where I am right now. I’m happy to have made it to the quarter-finals.” Nadal responded when questioned about the milestone.
“In these moments I don’t go out there and think about these kind of things. I just think about my opponent, what I have to do to keep on going. That’s all.”
Focused on winning his 78th ATP title this week at the Caja Magica, Nadal briefly acknowledged the significance of his run on the clay. He has won more titles on the dirt than any other player in the Open era, including a record 10 at the French Open.
“It’s difficult to be able to win 50 sets in a row.” He reflects. “But I’ve done it. Well, it’s done. It’s over. Let’s not talk about that any more and let’s continue on what we have ahead, which is what I am concerned about.”
Despite Nadal’s seemingly uninterested take on reaching the magic 50 mark, there could be a good reason for it. Following his latest triumph, the Spaniard admitted that he didn’t want to have the milestone on his mind. Fearing that it may have an impact on his performance against Schwartzman.
“I didn’t want to play thinking that today I had to win these two sets to be able to achieve this record. I just had to go out there to win this match in either two sets or three sets, doesn’t matter.”
Whilst pouring water over his win over his breaking of McEnroe’s record, Nadal appreciates other milestones in his career. To date, he has won more Masters titles than another other player, spent 173 weeks as world No.1 and has won 16 grand slam titles.
“I’m not going to think now which records do I have because I don’t remember.” He told reporters. “But when you achieve things that are unique, it’s always special. There are some records that make me happy, that excite me.”
Nadal will take on Thiem in his quarter-final match at the Madrid Open on Friday.
