Rafael Nadal beat new world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev to reach the ATP 500 Acapulco semi-final, but just before the final the Spaniard set new records. After defeating Stefan Kozlov and Tommy Paul in the Acapulco tournament, Rafael Nadal not only made his best start to the season after playing tennis, but overtook his compatriot in 2009 to secure his 117th win at the ATP 500 tournament.
and David Ferrer, an opponent of many battles that was stopped at 116. Roger Federer at 111 and Kei Nishikori at 101 at the bottom of the podium. If instead we add the history of victories in the ATP 500 tournament, the Spaniard is fifth in the Open Era with 167 successes.
Jimmy Connors on 241 is leading the group, just behind Ivan Lendl 237 and John McEnroe 210 closes the podium. Of the still active players, only Federer has outperformed Manekor Bullock with 178 wins. Now former world number one Novak Djokovic is also behind on 110 as he has played fewer tournaments than others.
Nadal breaks another personal best
Rafael Nadal, thanks to a success against American Tommy Paul, also broke another personal record, enriching an incredible career even more: 12 consecutive victories at the start of the year, better than in 2014 when he only interrupted Stan Wawrinka in the final of the Australian Open.
The Spanish champions, who won 21 Grand Slam titles, will look to lift the Acapulco Trophy for the fourth time, which would mean a 91st career title and would mean just three points behind Czech tennis player Lendl.
In the semi-finals, he will face new world number one Daniil Medvedev, who will be looking forward to redemption after a loss at the Australian Open. At one of the Mexican press conferences he instead announced that he did not want to aim for first place in the world rankings: "Unfortunately for me that time is over.
My physical problems kept me from finishing another year as number one, I say this with the humility of someone who never knew what could happen, but that's how I felt for a few years when My body did not allow this.