Fifth seed Rafael Nadal rallied past No. 7 seed Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open to win a record-breaking 22nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy. In claiming his third Indian Wells crown (2007, 2009), Nadal notched his 600th match win, joining Roger Federer as the only active players to achieve the feat.
"A lot of things happened the last seven months, [so] to be back here and to have this very heavy trophy with me is amazing," said Nadal. "Beating three Top 10 players and winning a title like this is just something unbelievable for me. I'm very, very happy and very emotional."
Nadal has made a triumphant return to the ATP World Tour since beginning his comeback in February from a seven-month absence with a left knee injury. After falling in the Vina del Mar final to Horacio Zeballos, the Spaniard has won three consecutive trophies to post a 14-match win streak and career-best 17-1 season start. Nadal was contesting his first hard-court final since the 2012 Australian Open, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the longest Grand Slam final on record.
"When you have one comeback like I'm having, you remember all the low things, lower moments that you had during the seven months," Nadal said. "Hopefully I passed and can just remember all the people that really helped me a lot during all this time."
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