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Go Figure: Rafael Nadal’s career on clay

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Rafael Nadal cruised through the Monte Carlo Masters without dropping a set. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal won a record 20th Masters 1000 title with his victory over Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo. Here are some numbers that make him worthy of being dubbed “The King of Clay,” plus some other fun stats thrown in.

20: Masters 1000 titles won by Nadal, the most by any player in ATP history.

15: Masters titles won by Nadal on clay.

8: Consecutive Monte Carlo Masters titles won by Nadal.

0: ATP players not named Nadal to win a tournament eight times, let alone eight straight times.

30: Consecutive matches won by Nadal in Barcelona, after Wednesday’s second-round win.

42: Consecutive matches won by Nadal in Monte Carlo.

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  • Published On Apr 25, 2012
  • Go Figure: Jennifer Capriati’s HOF run

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    By Brad Weinstein, SI.com

    Jennifer Capriati in her tournament debut as a 13-year-old (left) and at the 2004 U.S. Open, the second-to-last event of her career. (SI/Icon SMI)

    Jennifer Capriati was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame last week. Here are some numbers that helped define her career, which Bruce Jenkins wrote about Tuesday on SI.com.

    10: Capriati’s age when she appeared in Sports Illustrated‘s Faces in the Crowd in March 1987.

    13 years, 11 months: Capriati’s age when she finished as the Boca Raton runner-up in 1990 in her WTA Tour debut, making her the youngest player in history to reach a final. This led to another SI appearance — on the cover.

    46 years, 4 months: Age of Capriati’s doubles partner that week in Boca Raton, where the pair lost in the second round. The player? Billie Jean King.

    42-11: Capriati’s record in her first year on tour, which included her first title, in Puerto Rico, where at 14 she became the fourth-youngest tournament winner. She set records for youngest player to make the French Open semifinals and youngest player to be ranked in the top 10. She finished the year at No. 8.

    14: Career singles titles, the first in 1990 and the last in 2003.

    3: Grand Slam singles titles — 2001 Australian Open, 2001 French Open and the 2002 Australian Open.

    17: Weeks spent at No. 1, all in late 2001 and 2002.

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  • Published On Apr 17, 2012
  • Go Figure: Guga the Hall of Famer

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    Gustavo Kuerten won three French Open titles and spent 43 weeks at No. 1. (Heinz Kluetmeier/SI)

    Gustavo Kuerten’s election to the International Tennis Hall of Fame was announced Thursday. The former No. 1 from Brazil will be inducted on July 14 in Newport, R.I. Here are some notable numbers from Kuerten’s career, which could have been even more distinguished if not for recurring hip injuries.

    3: French Open titles, in 1997, 2000 and 2001.

    66: Kuerten’s ranking when he won the 1997 French Open, where, as a 20-year-old, he upset former champions Thomas Muster, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Sergi Bruguera to become the second-lowest-ranked Grand Slam champion. The stunning run marked his first ATP title.

    11: Match points that Kuerten needed to close out Magnus Norman in the 2000 French Open final.

    20: Singles titles, with a 20-9 record in finals. Of those 20 titles, three were majors, five were Masters tournaments and 16 were on clay.

    8: Doubles titles, including five with fellow Brazilian Fernando Meligeni.

    $14,807,000: Career prize money for singles and doubles combined.

    36-3: Clay-court record in 2001. He won five of his six titles that year on clay.

    43: Weeks spent at No. 1, all in 2000 and 2001. The Brazilian was the first South American to finish as a year-end No. 1.

    358-195: Career record, a .647 winning percentage.

    34-18: Davis Cup record, including 21-11 in singles and 13-7 in doubles. One highlight was Kuerten’s 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 9-7 victory over France’s Sebastien Grosjean in the 1999 quarterfinals, though Brazil lost the tie 3-2.

    7-8: Record on grass. All of those victories (and five of the losses) came at Wimbledon, where he made the quarterfinals in 1999.


  • Published On Mar 08, 2012
  • Go Figure: Andy Roddick’s ranking falls

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    Andy Roddick, who injured his ankle last week, fell from 17th to 27th in the rankings. (EPA)

    Some numbers from around the tennis world:

    27: Andy Roddick’s ranking, down 10 spots from last week and his lowest since being No. 30 in August 2001.

    20: Ranking for Angelique Kerber, the first time she’s been in the top 20.

    4: German women in the top 20, the first time that’s happened since 1988. Kerber (20th) is joined by Andrea Petkovic (10th), Sabine Lisicki (13th) and Julia Goerges (19th).

    84: Percent of first-serve points won by Milos Raonic in his first 12 matches this year, an ATP high.

    190: Aces for Raonic in those 12 matches, also a Tour high. No. 2 Tomas Berdych entered this week’s tournaments with 148 aces in 14 matches.

    83-2: Raonic’s record in service games in eight career matches at the SAP Open, where he’s won back-to-back titles.

    300: Career match victories for Agnieszka Radwanska after Tuesday’s win against Aleksandra Wozniak in Dubai. The 22-year-old Radwanska improved to 300-137.

    12: Consecutive years that Roger Federer has won a singles title. He extended that streak with Sunday’s victory against Juan Martin del Potro in the Rotterdam final.

    13: Consecutive years that Mark Knowles has won a doubles title. The 40-year-old Knowles teamed with Xavier Malisse to win the SAP Open last week. Knowles has won a doubles title in 19 of the last 20 years, with 1999 the only exception.

    99: Career doubles finals for Knowles. He’s 55-44 in those matches.

    171: Weeks as the WTA’s No. 1-ranked doubles player for Liezel Huber, second all time and 66 behind Martina Navratilova’s record 237 weeks.


  • Published On Feb 22, 2012
  • Go Figure: Australian Open recap

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    Rafael Nadal (left) has won both matches vs. Roger Federer in Melbourne. (Lucas Dawson/Getty Images)

    On Sunday, we highlighted some numbers from the historic Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Here are more facts and figures from the two weeks in Melbourne. 

    8-2: Rafael Nadal’s record against Roger Federer in Grand Slam tournaments after the Spaniard’s victory in the semifinals. Nadal is 5-0 on the Roland Garros clay, 1-2 on the Wimbledon grass and 2-0 on the Melbourne hardcourts. The rivals have never met at the U.S. Open.

    0: U.S. men who reached the fourth round, a first since the Open Era began in 1968.

    3: Unforced errors for Agnieszka Radwanska in her 6-1, 6-1 fourth-round win over Julia Goerges, who had 27 errors.

    4: Rackets that Marcos Baghdatis smashed during a changeover in his second-round loss to Stanislas Wawrinka.

    5: Consecutive major semifinals for Andy Murray.

    2-10: Murray’s record in Grand Slam tournaments against the three players ranked ahead of him — Djokovic, who beat the Scot in the Australian Open semifinals this year and the final last year; Nadal, who defeated him in three straight major semis last year; and Federer, who has topped him in two Slam finals.

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  • Published On Jan 30, 2012
  • Go Figure: Australian Open men’s final

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    Novak Djokovic won the longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

    Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in a historic Australian Open final on Sunday. Here are some facts and figures from the classic match:

    5 hours, 53 minutes: Length of the match, the longest in Australian Open history and the longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era (which started in 1968).

    4 hours, 54 minutes: Previous record for longest major final, between Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl at the 1988 U.S. Open.

    11 hours, 5 minutes: Longest men’s match in history, John Isner’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 victory against Nicolas Mahut in the first round at Wimbledon in 2010.

    10 hours, 43 minutes: Combined court time for Djokovic in the semifinals and final. He needed four hours and 50 minutes to beat Andy Murray in the semifinals on Friday.

    1:37 a.m.: Local time in Melbourne when the final ended.

    5: Players who have won three Grand Slam events in a row in the Open Era. Djokovic joins Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Nadal.

    7: Consecutive victories for Djokovic against Nadal, all in finals, including the last three majors.

    3: Consecutive Grand Slam final losses for Nadal, an Open Era record.

    4: Players with at least three Australian Open titles in the Open Era. Djokovic joins Andre Agassi (four), Roger Federer (four) and Mats Wilander (three).

    16-14: Head-to-head record between Nadal and Djokovic, with the Spaniard still ahead despite seven straight losses.

    133-2: Nadal’s record when winning the first set in Grand Slam matches, according to the ATP Tour. The only losses are to David Ferrer at the 2007 U.S. Open and Djokovic at the 2012 Australian Open.

    88: Minutes in the fourth set, which Nadal won in a tiebreaker.

    82: Minutes in Saturday’s women’s final between Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. Azarenka won 6-3, 6-0.


  • Published On Jan 29, 2012
  • Go Figure: Del Potro rises up the ranks

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    Juan Martin del Potro is on the verge of returning to the top 10. (Georg Hochmuth/EPA)

    Some numbers from around the tennis world:

    474: Spots that Juan Martin del Potro has climbed in the rankings since bottoming out at No. 485 on Jan. 31. Regaining his form after missing eight months last year with a wrist injury, the Argentine is up to No. 11. Del Potro will finish his year playing in the Davis Cup final at Spain on Dec. 2-4.

    162: Spots that 21-year-old Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania climbed in the rankings since the start of 2011. The WTA Newcomer of the Year went from 202nd to 40th.

    10: Years since Andy Roddick finished a season outside the top 10. Roddick is ranked 14th, the same position he held in the year-end rankings in 2001. He was 10th in ’02, first in ’03, second in ’04, third in ’05, sixth in ’06 and ’07, eighth in ’08, seventh in ’09 and eighth in ’10.

    103: Venus Williams’ ranking. She will play an exhibition match against her sister Serena on Wednesday in Colombia, her first match since withdrawing from the U.S. Open after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Venus, 31, is scheduled to return to the WTA Tour in January.

    8-3: Novak Djokovic’s record this year when losing the first set, the only ATP player with a winning mark in such situations.

    83: Main-draw matches for Marion Bartoli this year, a WTA high and three more than Caroline Wozniacki, who had five more victories than the Frenchwoman (63-58).

    12: Consecutive victories for Petra Kvitova, tied with Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams for the longest streak on Tour this year.

    2-14: ATP World Tour Finals rookie Mardy Fish’s career record against his three round-robin opponents in London. The 29-year-old American is 1-7 against Rafael Nadal (with Fish’s victory coming this year in Cincinnati), 1-6 against Roger Federer and 0-1 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.


  • Published On Nov 18, 2011
  • Go Figure: Murray’s winning streak ends

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    Some numbers from around the tennis world:

    17: Andy Murray’s winning streak since the U.S. Open, which was snapped Friday with a loss to Tomas Berdych at the Paris Masters.

    800: Career match wins for Roger Federer after his victory Friday in Paris. He is the seventh player in the Open Era to accomplish the feat.

    1,242: Career wins for all-time leader Jimmy Connors, 442 more than Federer.

    23: Years since the Czech Republic last won the Fed Cup. Last week in Russia, Petra Kvitova led the Czechs to their first title since 1988.

    21-0: Kvitova’s record on indoor courts this year.

    5: Countries represented in the WTA top five — Denmark (Caroline Wozniacki), Czech Republic (Petra Kvitova),  Belarus (Victoria Azarenka), Russia (Maria Sharapova) and China (Li Na). That has happened only two other times.

    203: Rankings spots Sabine Lisicki jumped from April to November. She ends the year at No. 15.

    5: Basel titles for Federer, a tournament record. Federer defeated Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-3 in the final last Sunday.

    6: Points Federer lost on serve to Nishikori.

    68: Career ATP titles for Federer, putting him fourth behind Jimmy Connors (108), Ivan Lendl (92) and John McEnroe (76).

    This post has been corrected to fix the difference in victories between Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer.


  • Published On Nov 11, 2011
  • Go Figure: Murray the defender, Slam draws

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    Some numbers from around the tennis world:

    5: Consecutive seasons that Andy Murray has defended his crown at an ATP tournament after a successful title defense in Shanghai. The other successful title defense are: 2007, San Jose; 2008, St. Petersburg; 2009, Doha; 2010, Montreal/Toronto.

    15: Times in the last 16 Grand Slams that Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have drawn into the same half, according to the ATP’s Greg Sharko.

    18: Men voted more influential than Novak Djokovic in an AskMen.com poll. Topping the list are Steve Jobs, SEAL Team Six and Larry Page.

    3: Qualifiers who reached the quarterfinals at the ATP’s Erste Bank Open in Vienna this week — Tommy Haas, Daniel Brands and Steve Darcis. Haas lost to Juan Martin del Potro, while Brands defeated Darcis to advance to the semifinals.

    34-0: Maria Sharapova’s record this year when she wins the first set, according to the WTA’s Kevin Fischer.

    11,269: Average attendance during the first four days of the WTA Championships in the tournament’s first year in Istanbul.

    115: Points that will separate Petra Kvitova and top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki if Kvitova wins the WTA Championships.

    8: Players who have finished as WTA No. 1 in consecutive seasons. Wozniacki has joined Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin and Martina Hingis.

    18: Percent reduction in withdrawals since the WTA Roadmap went into effect.


  • Published On Oct 28, 2011
  • Go Figure: Impressive run for Murray

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    20: Years since a player has won both singles and doubles titles in Tokyo, according to the ATP. Andy Murray accomplished the feat last week with his brother, Jamie. Stefan Edberg hoisted both trophies in 1991, winning the doubles with Todd Woodbridge.

    23-1: Murray’s singles record since mid-August. He’s going for his third straight title in Asia this weekend.

    1,375: Murray’s point lead over Roger Federer in the year-to-date rankings.

    501: Career doubles wins for Nenad Zimonjic. The No. 3-ranked doubles player partnered with Michael Llodra to collect No. 500 in his opening match in Shanghai this week. The 35-year-old Serb has won 42 titles.

    66: Wins for Rafael Nadal in 2011, the most on Tour and two more than Novak Djokovic (64).

    135: Americans in the ATP rankings system, the most of all nations. France is second with 118, according to Ubaldo Scanagatta at Ubitennis.

    8: Consecutive years a European man has finished the year at No. 1, per the ATP. Serbia’s Djokovic has already clinched the top spot for this year.

    31: Petra Kvitova’s ranking at this time last year. She reached a career-high No. 4 this week.

    7: Matches Marion Bartoli needs to win in the next nine days to have a chance of qualifying for the WTA Championships in Istanbul. She also needs Agnieszka Radwanska to lose before the quarterfinals in Moscow next week.


  • Published On Oct 14, 2011