Stat of the Day: Rafael Nadal now 18-0 against Richard Gasquet after third-round victory at US Open

Rafael Nadal was in devastating form at the US Open on Saturday night, defeating Richard Gasquet, 6-0, 6-1, 7-5, to improve to 22-0 at Grand Slams this year.

And there’s another unbeaten record he extended, too: Nadal is now 18-0 in his career in tour-level matches against Gasquet, tying the record for best undefeated tour-level head-to-head record for a man in the Open Era.

BEST UNDEFEATED TOUR-LEVEL HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS (men, Open Era)

• 18-0: Novak Djokovic vs Gael Monfils
• 18-0: Rafael Nadal vs Richard Gasquet
• 17-0: Roger Federer vs David Ferrer
• 17-0: Roger Federer vs Mikhail Youzhny
• 17-0: Ivan Lendl vs Tim Mayotte
• 17-0: Bjorn Borg vs Vitas Gerulaitis

Nadal has also won his last 34 sets in a row against Gasquet, a stretch that dates back to the Masters 1000 event in Canada in 2008.

It’s worth noting that both Nadal and Djokovic lost one match to their respective opponents below tour-level before either of their 18-0 tour-level streaks began: Nadal lost to Gasquet (by retirement) at a Challenger in France in 2003 before winning the first of their 18 tour-level meetings in Estoril in 2004, and Djokovic fell to Monfils at a Futures event in Italy in 2004 before winning the first of their 18 tour-level meetings at the US Open in 2005.