Rafael Nadal brings 10-0 start to the year into Acapulco

Normally it’s Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic kicking off the year with a long unbeaten streak, because it almost always includes winning the Australian Open—and those two won there in 15 of the 18 years between 2004 and 2021.

But this year it was Rafael Nadal who won the Happy Slam, as well as one of the Melbourne Summer Set events in the weeks leading up to it—and so this year it’s the Spaniard who comes into February on a double-digit unbeaten start.

This is actually the second-longest unbeaten start to a season in Nadal’s career.

NADAL’S BEST UNBEATEN STARTS TO A SEASON (tour-level)
~ 11-0 in 2014 (5-0 to win Doha and 6-0 to reach Australian Open F - l. to Wawrinka)
~ 10-0 in 2022 (3-0 to win Melbourne-1 and 7-0 to win Australian Open)
~ 6-0 in 2019 (6-0 to reach Australian Open F - l. to Djokovic)

Also, with his two titles in Australia this year, it's the first time Nadal has ever won two titles in January—and even now, it’s just the second time he’s ever come into the last week of February with two titles under his belt, having done so in 2014 as well (that year he won Doha before the Australian Open and Rio de Janeiro in February).

This is also just the fifth time the 21-time Grand Slam champion has come into the last week of February with double digit wins on the year.

Long story short, this has been one of the best—if not the best—starts to a season of Nadal’s career, which spans almost two decades at this point.

Nadal’s fantastic start to 2022 could get even better this week, as Acapulco has been a great venue for him—he’s 20-2 at the ATP 500 event, winning it twice when it was held on clay (in 2005 and 2013) and once since it switched to hard in 2014 (in 2020).

He actually holds the records for youngest AND oldest player ever to win this title, having done it as an 18-year-old in 2005 and as a 33-year-old in 2020.

His only losses came to Sam Querrey in the 2017 final, 6-3, 7-6 (3), and Nick Kyrgios in the second round in 2019, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6), after holding three match points.

If Nadal wins Acapulco for a fourth time this year, he would tie Thomas Muster and David Ferrer for most titles in the tournament’s history. Muster won the first four editions of the event in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996, all on clay, while Ferrer won it three times on clay (2010, 2011 and 2012) and once on hard (2015).