It was special day for Rafael Nadal and he celebrated it in style with a scintillating come-from-behind victory. In the fourth round of Miami Open yesterday, Nadal beat German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber to the next round. The World No. 31 German was on fire in the first set when he managed to take down Nadal in just 21 minutes with 0-6. But it was never too late for the King of Clay to come back and win the match.
In next two set, the fifth seed Nadal flipped the match and turned it in his favour with a 6-2, 6-3 win over the German on the main stadium hard court at Crandon Park. Nadal also created history where for the first time he failed to win a game in the first set of an ATP tour match since 2008. But it was never too late for Nadal to make a comeback and win his 822nd career victory with more determination. He also joined the small group of 11 players who have played 1000 matches or more.
In another matches, Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori also advanced to the next round. While Roger made an easy win; it took three hours for Nishikori to make it. The last year runner-up to Novak Djokovic, Nishikori has to fight it hard to beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5), 6-1. The Japan’s number one player Nishikori fired 37 winners to make it in time.
While long career await for this 30yrs old Spaniard, he might be able to beat Jimmy Connors record of most number of matches played 1535. What is more interesting about Nadal is the fact that whenever you feel that his career is about to get over he makes a comeback with more convincing wins.