The King of Clay or the King of Tennis? Rafael Nadal has seemed to have turned back the clock as he’s found new and improved form at the peak age of 35 years old.
The Spaniard has been on a winning streak and keeps setting up records with every win now. Reaching a whopping 91 ATP titles, Nadal has now become one of the winningest players in ATP history. He has also equalled Roger Federer as the only players to win each ATP title at least 2 times. The 91 titles also include his incredible feat of 21 grand slams, which he achieved at the end of January in Australia.
Not only is he the only male tennis player in history to win 21 grand slams, but he has also now set a new record. He has made his best start to a season ever. In his almost 20 year career, he has now made a start with 15 consecutive wins reaching 9th place in overall best starts to a season.
Meanwhile on the other side of the spectrum, Novak Djokovic lost to Vesely in a shocking 2 setter match in Dubai last week, dropping down from his coveted no.1 spot. The new No. 1 Daniil Medvedev barely got past him when he was defeated by Nadal in the semi finals in Acapulco.
Even though far below the two, if Nadal has a good year, he could easily give the two right handers some tough competition in terms of ATP rankings. “I went through some very difficult moments during the match that I was able to save, and then I took advantage when I had the chances,”
“Cameron is a very solid player, a tricky player,” Nadal said post-match. “He makes you feel that you cannot play comfortably against him at all.”