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Rafael Nadal opened his campaign for a third Wimbledon title with a hard-fought four-set win over Argentine Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday.
The two-time champion looked in control of the contest as he romped to a two-set lead on Centre Court. Cerundolo, though, reduced arrears and was close to going up two double breaks in the fourth. However, Nadal soon regained control of proceedings, reeling off the final four games to take a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.
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Crediting his opponent, Nadal said in his on-court interview that he felt amazing to be back playing on grass after three years.
"First of all, all the credit to Fran," said Nadal. "I think he started to play great and (was) a very tough opponent. It's obvious that for me, it's been three years without being here, without playing on this amazing surface, so (I'm) very happy to be back. For me, it's always amazing playing here on this court, and I can't thank everyone enough for the support."
With the win over Cerundolo, Nadal achieved a few notable milestones. On that note, here's a look at three of them in no particular order:
#1 Rafael Nadal moves to joint-fourth in Grand Slam singles match wins - male or female - in Open Era
Rafael Nadal beat Francisco Cerundolo to bring up his 306th singles match win in Grand Slams, including 54 at Wimbledon.
In the process, the legendary left-hander moved level with Martina Navratilova for the joint fourth-most singles wins in Majors in the Open Era. If Nadal beats Ricardas Berankis in the next round at SW19, he'll move past his fellow left-hander to take sole ownership of fourth spot in the all-time list.
However, Nadal still has some way to go to catch up with the three players ahead of him - Roger Federer (369), Serena Williams (365) and Novak Djokovic (328).
While Federer is not at Wimbledon this year, Djokovic opened his account for a fourth-straight title on Monday with a four-set win over Kwon Soon-woo.
#2 Rafael Nadal becomes fifth male player in Open Era to win first 15 Grand Slam matches in a year
Rafael Nadal has been on a roll this year despite enduring rib and foot injuries. He made a career-best 20-0 start to the year.
He reeled off titles at Melbourne 250, Australian Open and Acapulco before his unbeaten start to the year was ended by Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final. Nadal's triumph at the Australian Open was his second at the tournament as he joined Djokovic as the only male players to win the career double Grand Slam. That also made the Spaniard the first male player to win 21 Major titles.
A few months later, Nadal entered Roland Garros for the first time without a title on European clay in the season. Nevertheless, he ousted defending champion Djokovic in the quarterfinals before beating first-time Major finalist Casper Ruud to win a record-extending 14th title. That marked the first time Nadal won the first two Slams of the year.
With his first-round win over Cerundolo at Wimbledon, the Spaniard has now joined an exclusive club of only five players to win the first 15 Grand Slam matches in a year. The list comprises Rod Laver (1969), Mats Wilander (1988), Jim Courier (1992) and Novak Djokovic (2016, 2021).
Remarkably, a certain Roger Federer, winner of 20 Major titles, is conspicuous by his absence from the list.
#3 Rafael Nadal becomes third player with wins at Wimbledon most seasons apart
Rafael Nadal made the third round on his Wimbledon debut in 2003. It was also the Spaniard's Grand Slam main-draw debut. More than two decades later, the former World No. 1 crossed the first-round hurdle for the 14th time in 15 appearances.
In the process, Nadal moved level with Jimmy Connors, who won matches at Wimbledon 19 years apart, doing so in 1972 and 1991. The list is headed by record eight-time champion Roger Federer, who won his first match at Wimbledon in 2001. Federer made the quarterfinals at SW19 last year, losing to Hubert Hurkacz.
Nadal will take on Ricardas Berankis on Thursday as he looks to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the fourth-straight time.
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