Nadal wins in 1000th match, Raonic withdraws

TIL Desk Sports/ Rafael Nadal celebrated his 1,000th tour level match with a come-from-behind victory over German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open on Sunday. World number 31 Kohlschreiber was on fire early, ripping through the first set in only 21 minutes but fifth seed Nadal flipped the switch and turned the match on its head to prevail 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 on the main stadium hard court at Crandon Park.

It was the first time Nadal had failed to win a game in the first set of an ATP tour match since 2008, the ATP said. The 30-year-old Spaniard ignited the near-capacity crowd with a typically determined comeback to clinch his 822nd career victory. He joins a small group of 11 players headed by Jimmy Connors (1,535) to have played at least 1,000 matches.

“One thousand matches is a lot of matches. Obviously that’s good news because that says I am having a long career,” Nadal told. Milos Raonic withdrew before his match against American qualifier Jared Donaldson, blaming a persistent hamstring injury. “It’s related to the previous injury I sustained almost four weeks ago… in Delray Beach,” the Canadian told reporters. Raonic said he would not return to the tour until he felt 100 percent fit.