Rafael Nadal makes history again as he makes good start to Australian Open

Rafael Nadal came through a tough test against Jack Draper at the Australian Open, and made a little history too.

Nadal beat the British youngster 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Melbourne to start his title defence in strong fashion.

While he was not at his best, as he rarely is in the early rounds of Grand Slams, he never really looked in danger of losing the match either.

In winning it, he also drew level with Ivan Lendl for the third most singles wins on the ATP Tour in the Open Era.

Most ATP singles wins in the Open era

1275 – Jimmy Connors
1251 – Roger Federer
1068 – Ivan Lendl
1068 – Rafael Nadal
1036 – Novak Djokovic

(Accurate as of 16 January , 2023)

‘’Last year was without a doubt one of the most emotional tournaments of my tennis career, no doubt about that,” Nadal said after the match.

‘’Unfortunately, that passed, so we need to keep working.

‘’Super happy to be back here in Australia one more time. It’s like my nineteenth season in the professional tour so very excited about this new beginning.

‘’Happy to be back here in the Rod Laver arena with a victory that I needed, the last couple of months haven’t been easy for me but hopefully this victory is going to help me.’’

‘’If we put into perspective all the situation that I went through the last six months, I think it’s been a very positive start.

‘’I played against one of the toughest opponents in the first round being seeded, he’s young, he has the power and I think he has a great future in front.’’

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