Rafael Nadal has now won 11 finals in a row & a record-breaking 30th title without dropping a set

Rafael Nadal clinched his 91st tour title on Sunday by beating Cameron Norrie in the final of the Mexican Open.

In doing so, the Spaniard has now won a whopping 11 finals in a row on tour. Nadal last lost a final at 2019 Australian Open, where Novak Djokovic handed him a beatdown.

Since then, he has won the summit clash at the Italian Open, French Open, Canada Masters and US Open in 2019, the Mexican Open and French Open in 2020, the Barcelona Open and Italian Open in 2021 and the Melbourne Summer Set, Australian Open and Mexican Open this year.

Nadal’s scalps in these finals (in the same order as the events listed) are as follows – Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic, Maxime Cressy, Daniil Medvedev, and Cameron Norrie.

Clearly, the Mallorcan’s form goes on an upward trajectory the deeper he makes it into a tournament. With the clay season set to follow the North American hardcourt swing, one can expect Nadal to improve on his streak further.

The Spaniard has already touched down in Indian Wells and has begun training. He is a three-time champion there but has not won the title since 2013, which was also the last time he made the summit clash of the event.

Rafael Nadal has now won 30 ATP titles without dropping a set

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal won 2022 Mexican Open without dropping a set even though he faced the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Cameron Norrie. This was the 30th time the Spaniard achieved this feat, which is now also a tour record.

The Spaniard previously held the record of 29 such titles with Jimmy Connors. Ivan Lendl is third on the list with 28 titles under his name.

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Nadal’s biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, are considerably behind, with 22 and 19 titles respectively without dropping a set. It is unlikely that either player will surpass the 21-time Major champion in this regard, given Federer is very close to retiring, while Djokovic has a sizeable gap to cover.