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Rafael Nadal becomes fourth man with 1,000 match wins
Becoming only the fourth man to reach 1,000 match wins should have drawn deafening cheers and a standing ovation for tennis great Rafael Nadal. Instead, he reached his milestone at the Paris Masters amid a cathedral-like silence Wednesday in a 20,000-seat stadium left completely empty because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was only a fist bump from Feliciano Lopez, after Nadal beat him 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a subdued atmosphere more worthy of a library study area than a sports arena.The 34-year-old Nadal joins towering company in Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only men in the 1,000-wins club since the Open era began in 1968. It was the second milestone he reached in Paris this year, having won the French Open last month to tie Federer with 20 majors. But while 1,000 fans cheered him at Roland Garros, none were at the Bercy Arena. Nadal's first win came in May 2002 at the age of 15, when he beat Paraguayan Ramon Delgado in the first round at Mallorca.
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Becoming only the fourth man to reach 1,000 match wins should have drawn deafening cheers and a standing ovation for tennis great Rafael Nadal. Instead, he reached his milestone at the Paris Masters amid a cathedral-like silence Wednesday in a 20,000-seat stadium left completely empty because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was only a fist bump from Feliciano Lopez, after Nadal beat him 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a subdued atmosphere more worthy of a library study area than a sports arena.The 34-year-old Nadal joins towering company in Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only men in the 1,000-wins club since the Open era began in 1968. It was the second milestone he reached in Paris this year, having won the French Open last month to tie Federer with 20 majors. But while 1,000 fans cheered him at Roland Garros, none were at the Bercy Arena. Nadal's first win came in May 2002 at the age of 15, when he beat Paraguayan Ramon Delgado in the first round at Mallorca.
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