Becoming only the fourth man to reach 1,000 match wins should have drawn deafening cheers and a standing ovation for tennis great Rafael Nadal.
Instead, he reached his milestone amid a cathedral-like silence Wednesday in a 20,000-seater stadium left completely empty because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was only a fist-bump from Feliciano Lopez, after Nadal beat him 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a subdued atmosphere more worthy of a library study area than a sports arena.
“The real feeling, the personal feeling is completely different,” Nadal said. “It makes a big difference that the court is empty.”
The 34-year-old Nadal joins towering company in Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only men’s 1,000-club members since the Open era began in 1968. “I know it is a very special number, one thousand,” Nadal said. “Even if…