As the only fourth player ever, Nadal celebrates his thousandth victory in the ATP Tour – Sport

Almost 6 years after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal also came to an elite club on the ATP tour. The Spaniard beat fellow countryman Feliciano Lopez in his debut match after two and a half hours with 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 5) and 6: 4. The 34-year-old celebrated his thousandth victory on the ATP tour.

“That means I’m old,” Nadal joked after his success and added: “Reaching this number means I’ve been playing well for several years. And that makes me happy.”

Over 18 years after the premiere

Before him, only Jimmy Connors (1274), Roger Federer (1242) and Ivan Lendl (1068) had succeeded. Nadal’s thousandth victory in the ATP Tour is followed for over 18 years by his first success. In April 2002 he celebrated his first in Mallorca against Ramon Delgado from Paraguay.

On Thursday, the current world number 2 will meet Australian Jordan Thompson (ATP 61) in his second appearance at Paris-Bercy.