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By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, May 7, 2014

 
Rafael Nadal, Madrid 2014

Rafael Nadal dropped only one game against Juan Monaco and bypassed an American legend on the ATP's all-time win list in the process.

Photo Source: AFP

Rafael Nadal killed two birds with one stone in his first match at the Madrid Open on Wednesday, shaking off the bad feelings from his quarterfinal loss to Nicolas Almagro in Barcelona as well as achieving a lofty milestone with his 6-1, 6-0 victory over Argentina's Juan Monaco.

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Nadal's 684th career victory moves the Spaniard past Arthur Ashe and into sole possession of 11th on the ATP's all-time win list. The three-time Madrid Open champion is now only 29 victories behind Boris Becker for tenth.

“Ashe was a fantastic man in our sport,” Nadal said. ““In this case for me, you know, no matter how many victories I've had, I'm very happy that I can be compared to him. You know, to be to the level of some people like this, it's always a great satisfaction for me.”

More fresh on Nadal's mind was getting his game into the form that has enabled him to win eight Roland Garros titles, and the 27-year-old felt that he did well in that regard on Wednesday as well.

“Sincerely I think I moved better and played well, better than I normally play on the clay,” Nadal said. “I was dominating over the points and playing very well. I think I've done positive things.”

After a shaky start which saw Nadal face break points in his first two service games and get broken once, the positive results started to come. The Spaniard didn't face another break point, and in the second set, he didn't miss a single first serve as he raced to the finish line to complete his second-round victory in one hour and eight minutes.

“Maybe I started out a little bit nervous during the first game,” Nadal said. “It's logical after losing a match that the next match, the beginning is always tough whenever you've lost.”

Nadal, who broke Monaco six times on ten break point opportunities, has now lost only seven games in his last eight sets against the 30-year-old since retiring against him in the second set of a match in Cincinnati in 2007.

Nadal will next face Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, with a spot in the quarterfinal on the line.

 

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