Nadal advanced to the first change on one of tennis’ historic lists

Rafael Nadal reappeared this Tuesday on the ATP circuit with a victory in Brisbane ATP 250 against Dominic Thiem through 7-5 and 6-1. almost a year after the injury suffered at the 2023 Australian Open, where she lost to Mackenzie McDonald. His iliopsoas problems have lingered ever since and continue to delay his attempts to return to the circuit. Finally, after failing to fulfill his wish to play the spring clay court season, Nadal underwent surgery and his time ended.

He has been through a lot in the second half of 2022, since he was forced to withdraw with an abdominal injury before playing in the Wimbledon semifinals against Nick Kyrgios. Since then he has not found a good feeling, also in 2023: Nadal came back with little rhythm, far from his level and again an injury stopped him dead in his attempt to restore his rhythm. He played just four games, with two first defeats in the United Cup against Cameron Norrie and against Alex de Minaur and had a four-set victory in his Australian Open debut against Jack Draper before injury and McDonald left him in the Australian tournament in the second round.

So, for the first time in his career, he closed a season with a negative balance, due to the circumstances: 1 win and 3 losses. These numbers and those physical problems prevented him from jumping in terms of positions on one of the historic lists of tennis in the Open Era: the victories. Nadal closes 2022 with a total of 1,067 victories, just one away from 1,068 where another tennis legend wanted Ivan Lendl He has closed his sports career. That victory against Draper helped him last year equalize to Ostrava, although he could not outrun him.

Most ATP wins

1. Jimmy Connors 1274
2. Roger Federer 1251
3. Novak Djokovic 1088
4. Rafa Nadal 1069
5. Ivan Lendl 1068
6. Guillermo Vilas 951
7. Ilie Nastase 908
8. John McEnroe 883
9. Andre Agassi 870
10. Stefan Edberg 801

That move came this Tuesday with the Nadal’s victory over Thiem. There are already 1069 accumulated the Spanish player, who a year later broke the tie with Lendl to remain as fourth solo on the list of most ATP wins. The three men before him were further away, included Jimmy Connors as leader with 1274 victories, including Roger Federer second with 1251 and with Novak Djokovicthe only one that can continue to extend its records, third in 1088 after its successful debut in the United Cup, where it seeks a new victory this Wednesday.

Nadal is fourth in matches won despite being fifth in matches played on the circuit, reflecting his excellent winning percentage. Novak Djokovic he managed to surpass it (after his first game in the United Cup, 1088 out of 1301 games, a 83.63%) to lead the ATP record in this section, but Nadal is second in 1,069 out of 1,289 matches, 82.93%. The Spaniard’s aim is to continue to maintain the good sensations sent against Thiem to increase his records in the coming days.

Lendl, in another more desired and complicated spotlight

Lendl Nadal has fallen behind on the list of ATP victories, but there is a preferred board where Rafa I want to answer him too. In 94 titles in the circuit in the individual key, Lendl, room In this statistic, he was left behind ahead of Nadal by twofifth, before 2023 suddenly ended for the Spaniard.

Of course, the Majorcan’s main challenge is to progress step by step to regain confidence and avoid the physical problems that have hampered him so much in recent times. This is not the time to think about records and statistical tables. But even, without focusing on them, Nadal’s weight continues to rise in the history of tennis.

Rafa Nadal’s positions in major historical tennis lists (Open Era)

-Grand Slam titles: 2nd with 22 (24 Novak Djokovic)
-Masters 1000 titles: 2nd with 36 (40 Novak Djokovic)
-ATP titles: 5th including 92 (109 Jimmy Connors, 103 Roger Federer, 98 Novak Djokovic and 94 Ivan Lendl)
-Clay court titles: 1st with 63 (49 Guillermo Vilas, 40 Thomas Muster, 32 Bjorn Borg and 31 Manuel Orantes and Ilie Nastase)
-Titles on hard court: 8th tied with 25 (71 Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, 46 Andre Agaassi, 43 Jimmy Connors, 36 Pete Sampras, 34 Andy Murray and 31 Ivan Lendl)
-Outer titles: 1st with 90 (79 Novak Djokovic, 77 Roger Federer, 56 Jimmy Connors and 53 Guillermo Vilas)
-Total victories: 4th with 1069 (1274 Jimmy Connors, 1251 Roger Federer, 1088 Novak Djokovic; behind Ivan Lendl’s 1068)
-Victory on clay: 3rd with 474 (681 Guillermo Vilas, 571 Manuel Orantes)
-Victories on hard court: 4th with 516 (783 Roger Federer, 694 Novak Djokovic, 592 Andre Agassi)
-Away wins: 1st with 974 (953 Roger Federer, 891 Novak Djokovic, 814 Guillermo Vilas)
-Week of number 1: 6th with 209 (406 Novak Djokovic, 310 Roger Federer, 286 Pete Sampras, 270 Ivan Lendl and 268 Jimmy Connors)
-Finished seasons number 1: tied for 3rd plus 5 (8 Novak Djokovic, 6 Pete Sampras and 5 Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer, in addition to Nadal)

*Nadal is not in the top 10 either in grass titles (Roger Federer leads with 19; eleven total players with at least 8 trophies compared to Nadal’s 4) or indoor courts (leader Jimmy Connors with 53; eleven players in total with at least 23 trophies (Nadal has 2); This is not even in victories on grass (leader Roger Federer with 192; Nadal with 76 ) or on indoor courts (leader Jimmy Connors with 487; the Spaniard won 95 against them). Furthermore, with two Olympic golds (one in singles and one in doubles), the ATP Finals continues to be one of the few pending challenges on his record.