Rafael Nadal Wrote Another Page in Tennis History

The 19 year old kid that stunned world tennis not more than just a year ago became the most prolific clay court tennis player in the history of the sport.

And, as Rafael Nadal is playing right now, there are pretty slim chances that somebody could take that away from him. How could that happen? Not even the world leader, and probably one of the greatest champions of tennis, Roger Federer; he had to settle for second, having no chance to win against Nadal in all of their 3 encounters this year.

Nadal equaled, on Sunday, Guillermo Vilas' world record of 53 consecutive wins on clay. The Italian crowd watched how history was written right before their eyes on the Rome Masters. And how better do it than with the two of the tennis` world champions face to face? On one hand, the best player on clay in the history of tennis and on the other hand, probably the best tennis player ever. And the first had to win. Why? Because clay is his home. And nobody should mess with him on his own territory. After a 4 set match (7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6), the Swiss player had no right to stop Nadal from entering the history books.

Nadal equaled another record in Rome. He won his 16 tournament as a teenager, a performance that only one of the tennis legends, Bjorn Borg, had succeeded previously. "It was an emotional plus for me to equal this record but the main thing was to win the title", said the young Spaniard. "Fifty-three matches is a lot of matches. Every week when I start a tournament I think: this week I'm going to lose. For me it is nice to equal Borg but he achieved a lot more in his career. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to improve", concluded Nadal.

As for Federer, he was pretty disappointed with the result, but satisfied with his playing manner: "It is a pity for me because I started well and had my chances to win, but he caught me on the finish line. Even in Monte Carlo it was extremely close, but this was even closer. I came in to the net more and he hardly passed me all today, so I think I'm on the right track", said the Swiss after the Rome final.