Tennis world english n 45 Tennis World english 45 | Page 9

from Monte Carlo to
Madrid, he is a perfect
15 for 15 in terms of
winning the first set,
and he has not lost a
single match during that
time. Nadal has a career
record of 739 wins and
42 defeats (94.6%)
after winning the first
set. He is behind only
Novak Djokovic and
Bjorn Borg in this
statistic (counting only
the Open Era).
Success rate
notion.
After winning the
first set
Good players generally
have good records in
matches where they
manage to win the first
set, and Nadal has
throughout his career,
with the exception of
the last few years, been
no exception. 2017 has
been particularly kind to
the Spaniard in this
regard. After his loss to
Milos Raonic in
Brisbane, the first
tournament of the
season, Nadal has not
lost a match after taking
the first set. In such
encounters, he is now
31-1 on the season. In
the clay court stretch
Nadalʼs match win
percentage for 2017 is a
perfectly respectable
87.2%, which translates
to a record of 34-5.
Roger Federer, with a
record of 19-1, has a
winning percentage of
95%, though he has
played in fewer events
than Nadal thanks to his
skipping the clay court
season. In terms of
overall Open Era
standings, Nadal is hot
on the heels of Novak
Djokovic. Nadal is at
82.4% (840-179), while
the Serb is at 82.7%
(767-160).
Against the Top 10
When it comes to
measuring relative
performance on the
ATP World Tour, few
stats mean more than
winning percentage
against Top 10
opponents. Indeed, this
has been one of Nadalʼs
greatest struggles over
the past few years, in
that he simply could not
consistently compete
against Top 10 players.
That has changed in
2017, however, with the
Spaniard winning 7 out
of his 10 encounters
with Top 10 players. His
victory against Djokovic
in Madrid was
particularly satisfying
for the Spaniard, seeing
as he had not beaten
Djokovic in seven
consecutive attempts.
Masters 1000
Another area where
Nadal has excelled this
year is in Masters 1000
events. The Majorcan
has won 17 of his 19
matches in those
tournaments, losing
only to Roger Federer at
Indian Wells and Miami.
With wins in Monte
Carlo and Madrid, he
now has a total of 30
titles, equaling
Djokovicʼs number.
With the very real
prospect of success in
Rome as well, he could
very well reclaim the
crown as the most
successful Masters
1000 player ever.