By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, May 16, 2017
David Ferrer topped Feliciano Lopez to score his 700th career victory in Rome. He joins Rafael Nadal as just the second Spanish man to eclipe the 700-win mark.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Veterans reach lasting milestones in the Eternal City.
In a clash of friends and former Davis Cup teammates, David Ferrer defeated Feliciano Lopez, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in his Rome opener to earn his 700th career victory.
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The 35-year-old Ferrer became the 13th player in ATP history to attain the 700 milestone mark.
Ferrer, who raised his record to 700-341, joins nine-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal as just the second Spanish man in history to score 700 victories. Nadal has earned 840 career wins.
“The number indicates that I have been a very consistent player over many years, and many matches,” Ferrer told ATPWorldTour.com. “It’s a very big figure, very difficult to achieve. I am very proud and humbled by the achievement. If someone had told me at the start of my career that I would be in this situation, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
The victory came 14 years after Ferrer defeated then world No. 1 Andre Agassi in his Rome debut.
Jimmy Connors is the ATP all-time match victory leader (1,256), followed by Roger Federer (1,099) and Ivan Lendl (1,068).
Ferrer will face seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori next in their second meeting in the last two weeks. Nishikori swept Ferrer, 6-4, 6-3, in the Madrid round of 16 last week.
Tomas Berdych registered his 600th career victory in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Carlos Berlocq snapping a tie with his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, who is 25th on the all-time match wins list with 599.
The 12th-seeded Berdych will play either fifth-seeded Milos Raonic or veteran Tommy Haas, who stopped American Ernesto Escobedo, 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (1), for a place in the quarterfinals.
Another day brought another comeback triumph for David Goffin against a dangerous lefty opponent.
The ninth-seeded Belgian beat Fernando Verdasco, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Goffin, who rallied from a set down to defeat Thomaz Bellucci in his opener, fought off 10 of 13 break points against Verdasco. Goffin will face either Marin Cilic or Ryan Harrison next.