Rafael Nadal won his 50th consecutive clay-court semifinal on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open when he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 6-3.
If you read that last paragraph and didn't let out a little groan of appreciation or amazement, maybe you ought to read on, and while doing so, contemplate just how ridiculous of a feat Nadal's clay-court semifinal dominance has become.
Is it as amazing as Roger Federer's Grand Slam semifinal streak, which reached 23? Maybe not, but as far as clay court records go, Rafa's dominance at the penultimate level of clay events is quite a monumental achievement.
To put it in perspective, let's take a look at some events that have occurred, both in tennis and out, since Rafael Nadal dropped his last clay-court semifinal in July of 2003 (a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Carlos Moya in Umag).
1. Roger Federer and his wife Mirka had twins. Then they had more twins.
2. Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2006) were founded.
3. An American male won a Grand Slam and held the No. 1 ranking. Seriously.
4. Kim Clijsters retired, had a baby, came back, won three more Grand Slams, then retired and had another baby.
5. Olympic games were played in Greece, Italy, China, Canada, Great Britain and Russia.
6. Rafa turned 18. Rafa switched out of the pirate pants and the sleeveless tops. Rafa turned 21. Rafa won the career Grand Slam. Rafa did a video with Shakira.
Rafa won Wimbledon for the first time. Rafa won Wimbledon for the second time. Novak Djokovic owned Rafa then Rafa owned Djokovic back. Rafa turned 27. Rafa won Roland Garros for the eighth time.
7. The first orbit of the planet Saturn (2004) and the planet Mercury (2011) were made.
8. Justin Bieber turned 10.
9. A medium-size, tree-dwelling primate called a highland mangabey was discovered in the mountains of East Africa (2007).
10. Hurricane Katrina ravaged the southeastern United States (2005) and the Tohuko earthquake damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor in Japan (2011).