"Congrats Rafa, and you are not done yet" - Martina Navratilova reacts to Rafael Nadal equalling her record for fourth-most Grand Slam matches won

Returning to Wimbledon after three years, Rafael Nadal looked sharp for the majority of his opening match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo.

The Spaniard, who is 15-0 at the Slams this year, won the first two sets and was well on his way to a straight-sets victory when the 23-year-old Cerundolo stepped up his game and took the third set. Even in fourth, the World No. 41 was leading 4-2 and it looked like the match would go the distance. However, the two-time Wimbledon champion won four games in a row to close out the match. He won 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

This was Nadal's 54th match win at SW19. But the most talked-about stat was his 306th Grand Slam singles match win, which brought him to the fourth position with 18-time Major winner Martina Navratilova. The only players in the Open Era who are above them are Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Novak Djokovic.

Former World No. 1 Navratilova did not waste any time in congratulating the 36-year-old on finding out that he had joined her on the table, and even suggested that the Spaniard was "not done yet."

"Congrats Rafa, and you are not done yet," Navratilova tweeted.

Roger Federer (369), Serena Williams (365) and Novak Djokovic (328) are way ahead in the race and if Nadal wins his next match, he will push Navratilova down to fifth and have the fourth position all to himself. The 22-time Grand Slam champion returned to London this year after a gap of three years. His last match was against Federer in the 2019 semifinals, which he lost in four sets.

Rafael Nadal faces World No. 106 in Round 2

Rafael Nadal in action during his first match in London

When the draw for the tournament was released last week, Rafael Nadal was expected to meet America's Sam Querrey in the second round.

Querrey's biggest weapon is his serve and he was the last player to beat Novak Djokovic in a completed match at Wimbledon. The Serb, who won the last three editions of Wimbledon and retired in 2017 due to an injury, lost to Querrey in the third round of the grasscourt Major in 2016.

However, World No. 106 Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania put on an impressive showing in his first-round match and sent Querrey packing with a straight-sets victory. Nadal is set to face Berankis in the second round on Thursday.