By Chris Oddo | Wednesday May 9, 2018
Rafael Nadal isn’t known as a fast worker, but the World No.1 was more than quick enough today—he needed just 73 minutes to dispatch Gael Monfils and move within one set of a 34-year-old record on Wednesday at the Mutua Madrid Open.
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The King of Clay rolled past Monfils, 6-3, 6-1, to set up a third-round clash with Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman while simultaneously moving within a set of John McEnroe’s long-held record for consecutive sets won on a specific surface.
In the midst of an 82-3 season McEnroe reeled off 49 sets on indoor carpet in 1984—Nadal notched consecutive sets No.47 and 48 on clay today.
The Spaniard, who has not lost a set on clay since last year’s Rome quarterfinals, won his 20th consecutive match on clay and improved to 17-1 on the season with his drubbing of Monfils.
Nadal faced a break point in the first game but after he weathered that bit of inclement weather he was off to the races. He broke in the next game and never trailed again en route to his 14th win in 16 lifetime contests with the 31-year-old Frenchman.
For the record, Nadal remains unimpressed about his current run of consecutive sets won, whether he breaks McEnroe’s existing record or not:
“Believe me that when I am gonna go on court tomorrow my only goal is gonna be to try to play my best and try to win the match,” he said. “I don’t want to think about these things. If it happens later—okay… Being honest, I don’t know if these kind of records are very important, I won’t say I don’t care because it’s better to have these kind of things than to not have them, but I am in a tennis tournament and I think about that—nothing else.”
It will certainly matter to the media—we’re constantly looking for ways to put Nadal’s dominance on clay into perspective, and every new mind-numbing milestone helps move the narrative forward.
More important for the Spaniard, of course, is his form heading into Roland Garros and that appears to be perfect for the moment. But we’ll know more as the week progresses. Schwartzman gave Nadal a heck of a battle in the round of 16 at the Australian Open this year, and even if Nadal gets past Schwartzman he could end up facing Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals and a refreshed Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.
Not exactly the easiest of draws…
Then of course there is the always difficult challenge of staying healthy and reaching a peak in early June when an 11th Roland Garros title is on the line.
For now, all is going perfectly smooth. Nadal hit 17 winners and saved all three break points he faced against Monfils. He dropped just four first-serve points and earned ten break points.
Just when you think Rafael Nadal has reached his peak, he seems to find a new, hair-raising level. Will we see another this weekend as he bids for his sixth Madrid title?
Best not to bet against it.