Rafael Nadal
Spain's Rafael Nadal speaks during an interview with Reuters after he won the ATP Argentina Open in Buenos Aires March 1, 2015. Nadal wants tournament organisers to maintain the tradition of clay courts on the Tour and said the growing number of events switching to harder surfaces could increase the injury risk to players long after they finish their careers. To match Interview TENNIS-NADAL/ REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Rafael Nadal is seeking to eclipse Pete Sampras’ grand slam record. Both Nadal and Sampras have 14 grand slam titles to their names and the Spaniard recently said that he would love to add another grand slam title to his long list of tennis accolades.

After leveling Sampras’ record by winning the Roland Garros crown last year, Nadal is on pace to even go beyond rival Swiss tennis great Roger Federer, who has reached the 17 grand slams mark. He ended his title drought since Roland Garros by winning his 46th claycourt title in Buenos Aires.

Despite being hindered with injuries in the past, Nadal is on a quest to continue to add titles to his tennis legacy, with a chance to not only surpass Sampras’ but also Federer’s grand slam record. Speaking to Euro Sport after his recent title victory, Nadal spoke about his desire of claiming a 15th grand slam title and taking down Sampras’ record.

“I have 14 now, it’s true that I have the same ones that Pete Sampras has and I would love to have one more than Pete,” Nadal told Euro Sport. “So I want to try my best to be 15 so we’ll see.”

According to Nadal, breaking records is something that he doesn’t really contemplate on every day. He said that his main goal is to take each tournament one at a time and go from there. Nadal, who just reclaimed the World No. 3 spot from Andy Murray, said that he wants to play it by ear and let things go as they may. Nadals feels it is the best route for him to take so he can achieve anything that he wants in his tennis career.

Nadal’s Buenos Aires’ title is his 65th win on the Association of Tennis Professionals’ tour. The Mallorca native has gone past Sampras and Bjorn Borg, who both have 64 tournament wins. It is also the first title that Nadal had won since claiming his ninth French Open crown in June 2014, his first for this year too.

Nadal will play his next tournament at Indian Wells, where he is a three-time champion, from March 9 to March 22. He headlines the men’s field alongside other top-ranked players Federer and Novak Djokovic. The tournament also features the top 10 players on men’s tour, namely, Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic, and David Ferrer.

All-time Men’s Grand Slam Titles (Open Era)

Roger Federer - 17

Pete Sampras - 14

Rafael Nadal - 14

Bjorn Borg - 11

Jimmy Connors - 8

Ivan Lendl - 8

Andre Agassi - 8

Novak Djokovic - 8

John McEnroe - 7

Mats Wilander - 7

Stefan Edberg - 6

Boris Becker - 6

Rod Laver - 5

John Newcombe - 5

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