Rafa Nadal was treated to a little attention from the FFT.

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FRANCK FIFE / AFP

As a symbol: it is in the French capital that Rafael Nadal won the 1000th victory of his career on Wednesday, but indoors at the Masters 1.000 in Paris and not at Roland-Garros where he is the undisputed king.

Unplayable on the clay of Auteuil where he capped a vertiginous 13th crown three weeks ago, the world No.2 is vulnerable on the hard of Bercy where he has never won the title.

Last year, he forfeited just before his semi-final.

"Thank you so much."

🙏 @RafaelNadal |

# Rafa1000 pic.twitter.com/6SNS7TUQBF

- ATP Tour (@atptour) November 4, 2020

"A very special moment, even without an audience"

And his Spanish compatriot Feliciano Lopez (64th) thought he had his chance on Wednesday, before losing 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

“I had a difficult start to the match, he's a great player on this surface, he knows me very well, and it was my first hard match for a very long time, especially indoors.

I was under pressure throughout the game, but I found a way to win.

I am very proud of this victory.

Sometimes it is a greater personal satisfaction to win this kind of match than to win 6-3, 6-3 ”, analyzed Nadal.

Because he made a lot of mistakes at the start of the game, including “woods” which caused the ball to fly several meters from the court.

He conceded the first game of the match on his serve and never managed to come back in the first set, giving the set to Lopez on yet another direct foul.

The fourth player with 1000 wins in history

On a thread throughout the second set, Nadal ended up winning the tie-break and taking control of the game ... for the 1000th time since his first victory, against Ramon Delgado in Mallorca in 2002. At 34, he joins Ivan Lendl (1.068), Roger Federer (1.242) and Jimmy Connors (1.274) in the very closed circle of players with 1,000 victories in the Open era (since 1968).

"It means that I'm old, but also that I played well for many years, I'm very happy about that, I can only thank everyone who allowed me to get there, it's a very special moment, a very special number, even if there was no audience… ”, he commented.

The 1001st victory awaits him Thursday afternoon against Thompson.

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Masters 1000 de Paris-Bercy: Why it's the right year for Rafael Nadal

  • Rafael Nadal

  • Masters 1000 Paris-Bercy

  • Tennis

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