Rafael Nadal Joins Roger Federer, Two Other Legends In Historic ATP Milestone

Rafael Nadal's stock as a tennis athlete continues to soar after reaching another milestone in an already illustrious career.

The 34-year-old ace amassed his 1,000th career win in his three-set victory over Feliciano Lopez at the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

This feat puts the Spaniard in the elite cast of Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242), and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only men in the 1,000-win club since the Open era began in 1968.

Nadal won his first major title when he was a teenager at the 2005 Roland Garros, and since then, he has never looked back. He has recently tied Federer for the men’s division record of 20 career Grand Slams.

In a recent study conducted by Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers, Nadal bests his opponents 58 percent of the time if the rallies extend to nine or more shots.

In addition to this, Nadal also has the current highest percentage among the world’s Top 10 players in terms of holding serve beyond multiple deuces.

While the numbers show no signs of slowing down, Nadal concedes that he’s not getting any younger.

“One very negative thing about getting to 1,000: you are very old,” he said in jest, as quoted by the Guardian.

“To win 1,000 matches you need to have a very long career. But I’m super happy. Of course, to arrive at that number means that I did a lot of things well and during a long time."

Known as the “King of Clay,” Nadal gets another opportunity to bolster his curriculum vitae as he is slated to compete at the upcoming ATP Final set to happen at the O2 Arena in London from Nov. 15 to 22.