By Chris Oddo | Friday May 18, 2018
Croatia's Mate Pavic will be the first No.1 in Croatian tennis history and Rafael Nadal keeps humming along in Rome--By the Numbers.
Photo Source: Julian Finney/Getty
Keeping up with the game of tennis, by the numbers. Each day at Tennis Now we’ll give you a fresh set—without any further ado, here’s what’s happening after a crazy Friday in Rome.
10
Rafael Nadal reached his 10th semifinal at Rome, where he has previously gone 9-0, with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Fabio Fognini on Friday. The Spaniard earns his 406th lifetime win on clay and improves to 54-6 lifetime at Rome and 36-27 lifetime when losing the first set on clay.
8
Number of matches that Elina Svitolina has won successfully in Rome after losing three of her first four at the Foro Italico. The Ukrainian defeated Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 to keep move her title defense along. She improved to 23-6 on the season and 5-2 on clay with the win—she has now won six straight against Kerber.
1
The ranking of Croatia’s Mate Pavic next week. The 24-year-old will take the ATP’s top ranking next week as a result of outperforming Lukas Kubot in Rome this week. He will be the first No.1 from Croatia (male or female) and the youngest ATP doubles No.1 since 1996.
50
The number of times that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have met. That’s just mind-blowing, isn’t it? They’ll meet for the 51st time tomorrow in the Rome semifinals. Here are some interesting numbers from ATP media:
12-0
Also remarkable is the fact that Novak Djokovic improved to 12-0 lifetime against Kei Nishikori today. How good to you have to be to defeat a player of Nishikori’s caliber 12 straight times?
6
Number of wins Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit has picked up against the Top 20 since Stuttgart—in three events. She defeated World No.2 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to book a spot in the Rome semis. The 22-year-old also has claimed two straight Top 10 scalps (also Venus Williams) in Rome.
29
The ranking that Maria Sharapova has ensured by reaching the semis in Rome. The Russian will be seeded at Roland Garros and she’ll play for a spot in the final on Saturday against either Simona Halep or Caroline Garcia.
7
Number of wins that Novak Djokovic has earned against Rafael Nadal in 22 clay matches against him. No other player has earned more than three wins on clay against the Spaniard. Djokovic has won five of their last eight meetings on clay, with Nadal taking their last meeting which came in the Madrid final.