21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal became the first man to win 400 matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level, beating Daniel Evans 7-5, 6-3 on Monday in Indian Wells. He also improved to 56-10 in his career at Indian Wells, which makes this the third Masters 1000 event he has 56 or more wins at.
Rafa will face the winner of an intriguing Monday matchup between rising young North American stars in American Reilly Opelka and Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.
Our champ is now 17-0 for the season after winning titles at the Melbourne Summer Set, Australian Open and Acapulco.
Most career wins at Masters 1000 events:
- 400: Rafael Nadal
- 381: Roger Federer
- 374: Novak Djokovic
- 219: Andy Murray
- 209: Andre Agassi
Rafa’s Masters 1000 Milestones:
- 1st win: vs Kucera, Monte-Carlo 2003
- 100th win: vs Berdych, Miami 2008
- 200th win: vs Murray, Monte-Carlo 2011
- 300th win: vs Wawrinka, Shanghai 2015
- 400th win: vs Evans, Indian Wells 2022
“I did not know about that [400th Masters 1000 victory], good numbers of course!” Rafa said during his on-court interview. “Happy to be through of course, the match did not start the way that I wanted but I was able to hit a couple of good passing shots in key moments.
“I think I improved a little bit with my serve, for a moment it was difficult but I think my forehand is starting to work a bit better. Even if I create a couple of double faults I can do damage with my second serve.”
You are right, David. Shap has not “made any friends out here” as Courier said at AO. Among Cana-
dians, Felix A.A. is a stand out-great attitude and always improving so far.
Rafa is just phenomenal – No. 400 and we are still counting. I so hope he comes through against Opelka and let’s hope Rafa is serving better when they meet up. All our thoughts are with you, Spanish warrior. Vamos Rafa.
Congratulations rafa on another mile stone in your career all the best for your next match with opalko vamos rafa
400th mind boggling win🤪🎉congratulations. The more we see that orange outfit, the better it looks!
Such fantastic play in beautiful Indian Wells. Enjoy, Rafa. Keep safe. Stay healthy and happy👏💪🤛🍀🎾❤️
Bravo Rafa
400th ATP Masters(1000) win
Congrats on 400th Rafa!!!!
God bless!
Love u
🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀😘😘😘😘😘
ENHORABUENA!!! Adelante Rafa!!!
Well done Rafa. All the best for the next round❤️
Rafa outplayed an outsmarted Evans but the first set was too close for comfort . Next match against Opelka will require Rafa to serve bigger and with fewer double faults and take advantage of the few opportunities Opelka is likely to give Rafa on the return game . This will be a very competitive match but of course I like Rafa to prevail .
Super win today over a tricky player like Evans. Keep it going!! Question to the fellow fans— on the atp website zverev has 7515 pts and our Rafa has 6515 pts. Is there any way, our guy can be world no. 3 by this weekend??? I know am a little fixated about his ranking 🙂
@SP – Yes, Nadal will be No. 3 on Monday 21st March if he either reaches the final or win the title at Indian Wells. Else, Nadal will surely overtake Zverev during the clay court swing.
Medvedev will relinquish his No. 1 position to Djokovic on 21st March, but is likely to regain it on 4th April with a better showing at Miami.
Well done Rafa. My best whishes for the next round.
Congratulations Rafa, onwards and upwards to the next round, Vamos x
So its Rafa v Opelka in the quarters. I’m glad to see someone new make it this far. Rafa has beat him in the past of course but Opelka is playing his best tennis ever this year. Huge serve is an understatement.
I’m not sorry to see Shapo lose. I like the guy less the more I see him.
Ditto with me David…I will never forget how Denis tried to throw Rafa under the bus with the time clock issue. He went on & on blaming his loss on the few seconds more that Rafa took. Troulbe is that no one ageeed with him not even the chairempire. He should have followed Rafa’s example & never make excuses for losing…excuses never wins anything!
trouble
Congratulations Dear Rafa
Onto the next round which is tough but not for Our Rafa…Stay healthy and focused and cut these errors…you are the best in history
Vamos Rafa.With Med v early exit,you should win the Title
Well done Rafa , another milestone I was so happy to experience with you ! Have a good rest
And enjoy that winning feeling with your team ! ⭐️
Top of the tree with 400. Well done Rafa! 👏🏼 👏🏼👏🏼
Another victory, another record set. Congratulations Rafa. Despite a number of unforced errors it was great to see him close it out in 2. Now to stay healthy as there were some concerns before the Evans match. 🇪🇸⭐️👋👋⭐️
HAPPY 400th Rafa
Congratulations to our champ!!!👏❤️
What’s with this Alcaraz guy ! He destroyed RBA 6-2 6-0 ! 18 year old and such game and mind ! Last time I saw something like this was in 2005 !
Absolutely, Navdeep. Let’s see if he is ready for prime time.