Rafa edges closer to Lendl mark

Rafael Nadal said earlier in the week that he wasn't aware of his career statistics. Now, he might want to have a look at them.

The 35-year-old Spaniard defeated Cameron Norris 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Mexican Open and extend his career-best start for a season to 15-0 as he won his 91st ATP title.

Nadal, who won his third title in 2022, including the Australian Open for his record 21st Grand Slam singles title, is three victories from tying Ivan Lendl's total of 94 for third place for most championships in the Open Era. Jimmy Connors leads with 109 and Roger Federer has 103.

The Spaniard won for the fourth time in Acapulco (2005, 2013 and 2020) where he is a fan favorite. Norrie, who was on an eight-match winning streak, was trying to become the first British man to win the Mexican Open in its 29-year history.

At the start of the match, Nadal had a break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and went on to win the first set in 51 minutes.

The players exchanged breaks in the first two games of the second set. However, Nadal added breaks in the fifth and seventh games to take home the trophy.

In the doubles final, Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated El Salvador's Marcelo Arevalo and the Netherlands' Jean-Julien Rojer 7-5, 6-4.