Stat of the Day: Rafael Nadal wins 499th career match on hard courts
The Spaniard has now reached the semifinals or better at 10 of the last 12 Grand Slams he’s played.
Yes, Rafael Nadal is special on clay, but he’s by no means a “clay-court specialist”—today he battled past Denis Shapovalov, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, to not only reach his seventh Australian Open semifinal, but to record his 499th tour-level hard-court win.
He’s won more tour-level matches on hard courts than on any other surface:
NADAL’S CAREER WINS BY SURFACE (tour-level)
~ 499 on hard courts (499-140)
~ 464 on clay (464-43)
~ 71 on grass (71-20)
~ 2 on carpet (2-6)
Nadal is a win away from becoming the fourth man in the Open Era to reach 500 career tour-level wins on hard courts, after Roger Federer (783-155), Novak Djokovic (634-118) and Andre Agassi (592-158).
The Spaniard is also through to the 36th Major semifinal of his career, which is third-most for a man all-time after Federer (46) and Djokovic (42).
Broken down, his 36 career Major semifinals include 7 at the Australian Open, 14 at Roland Garros, 7 at Wimbledon and 8 at the US Open.