PARIS — Every time Rafael Nadal steps on a clay tennis court, he seems to make history. Thursday was no different at the French Open.
Nadal, a nine-time winner at Roland Garros, won his 200th Grand Slam match with a decisive 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 effort over Facundo Bagnis. That moves him into eight on the all-time list at Slams in men’s tennis.
“I
didn’t know that,” Nadal said when a reporter told him of the feat.
“For me the most important thing today was the victory. It is another
number… that’s it. I’m happy right now. It’s a good start to the
tournament.”
Nadal meets Spanish countryman Marcel Granollers,
the world No. 56, in the third round on Saturday. Nadal has won all
four of their meetings in straight sets, including earlier this spring
in Barcelona.
Roger Federer, who is missing his first Grand Slam in 16 years with a back injury, tops the majors match-wins list with 302. Novak Djokovic, the top seed here, won No. 216 Thursday.
Nadal can move past Pete Sampras to
No. 7 on the list with four more victories — which would put him into
the final. The American had 203 total wins at majors in his career.
Nadal started slowly against Bagnis, a 26-year-old ranked No. 99,
losing his opening service game and falling behind 2-0. Nadal, however,
would turn the tide quickly, winning 12 of 13 games to take a commanding
two-sets-to-love lead.
Nadal and Djokovic are slated to meet in
the semifinals here a year after Djokovic beat his Spanish rival for the
first time at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals. The Serb, however, is
still in search of his first French Open title, and with it, the
completion of the career Grand Slam.
Nadal has the best career
match record on clay in the Open Era with a 365-34 mark. He moves to
200-30 at the majors and looks to capture a 10th French Open this
fortnight, which would be a major record – man or woman.
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