This is the way Rafael Nadal's luck has been going recently: His first title in nine months that was to have tied for the most clay-court championships of all time actually leaves him three short of the record.
USA TODAY Sports' For the Win reported that Nadal has been approaching the clay-court titles record held by Guillermo Vilas. When the Argentina Open began on Feb. 23, Nadal was one clay-court crown away from tying Vilas' 46 all-time victories.
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However, on the morning in which Nadal was to play Juan Monaco in the championship match, both the Association of Tennis Professionals and the International Tennis Federation discovered that Vilas' total was actually 49.
The ATP and ITF were alerted that Vilas had won two titles in Toronto in 1974 and 1976 and another at Virginia Beach in 1977 that originally were believed to be on hard courts. USA TODAY Sports reported that Vilas and other Argentina officials knew that those tournaments were on clay.
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Vilas' record number was updated before the finals match, but several media outlets didn't receive - or didn't see - a press release stating that Nadal would not be able to match Vilas' record.
BBC.com was one of the outlets to report that Nadal had tied Vilas after Nadal beat Monaco 6-4, 6-1.
ATP stats keeper Greg Sharko told For the Win that in the early years of the Open Era, record-keeping was sometimes spotty.
In fact, even Vilas' previous record total of 46 was changed from 45 as recent at 2013, For the Win reported, citing a chart from ATPWorldTour.com. A year later, a story that appeared on ATPWorldTour.com on April 15, 2014 said that "[Nadal] can continue to add to his legacy over these next couple of months, with a chance to surpass Guillermo Vilas at the top of the FedEx ATP Clay Titles Index. The Argentine claimed his first title in 1973 in Buenos Aires and his 46th a decade later in Kitzbuhel."
For the Win speculated that Nadal still will surpass Vilas, but that's not a given, considering Nadal's history of injuries and the fact that it took him nine months to get what he thought was the equalizer in the first place.
Do you think Rafael Nadal will surpass Guillermo Vilas' record of 49 clay-court titles? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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