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.”
[…] Wells 2022. The Spaniard became the first-ever player to win 400 Masters matches in the Open Era. Nadal defeated Dan Evans in the Round of 32 at Indian Wells to set this record. Then aged 35, Nadal won the match 7-5, 6-3 to enter the next […]