French Open winner Rafael Nadal joined Bjorn Borg, Thomas Muster, Guillermo Coria and Mats Wilander as the only player to win 31 consecutive clay-court matches after beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco at Stuttgart on Thursday.
The 19-year-old, who has won seven titles on clay in 2005, joined the other four with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Verdasco and advanced to quarter-finals of the ATP tournament.
If he wins the last eight clash on Friday, Nadal will surpass Swede Borg, Argentine Coria and American Wilander and will be close to Muster's all-time record of 40 consecutive clay-court wins which the Austrian achieved from February to June in 1995.
In the next round, the top seed will face Czech Tomas Zib, a winner over Argentina's Juan Monaco 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2005)
