Rafael Nadal gets another crazy record which testifies his immensity

The pride of a champion who defies adverse fate, continuous injuries and the passing of age: Rafael Nadal has managed to amaze tennis fans once again, demonstrating a willpower that is the prerogative of epochal champions only, those born once every two or three generations. 777 days after the last final, at Roland Garros 2022, the Spanish champion has reached a new final of a tournament, less prestigious than the French Open, but with great significance, for the moment and the context in which he arrived.

By beating Croatian Duje Ajdukovic in a very tricky Bastad semifinal, the 22-time Slam champion has gifted himself his 131st ATP final in his career. Crazy numbers, considering that Rafa has won 92 of these finals.

Among these is the Bastad tournament, won on July 4, 2005. Few can boast statistics like that. Taking into consideration only the ATP finals, only four tennis players have done better than him: Jimmy Connors (164), Roger Federer (157), Ivan Lendl (146) and Novak Djokovic (139). But that’s not all, Rafa is also the 1st to reach the final of a tournament won 20 years later and is the 5th oldest tennis player to reach a final since 1990. The path to the final of the 38-year-old Majorcan was not without obstacles.

After the first two fairly soft first rounds, against Leo Borg and Cameron Norrie, Rafa had a huge effort to get the better of the experienced caly-courts Mariano Navone. The semifinal match against the young Ajdukovic was also not easy.

At the end of the match, Nadal expressed all his pride for a result that had been missing for 2 years: “It’s a great feeling to win four matches in a row and reach the final. It’s been too long since it happened. A year after the hip surgery, seeing myself in this position is very special, it means a lot to me. I hope I can play better tomorrow,” said the Iberian champion who decided not to take the court alongside Casper Ruud in the doubles semifinal in Bastad. The former ATP number 1 chose caution after a very stressful week from a physical point of view.