ROGER FEDERER and Rafael Nadal are on course to set hit two major milestones within 48 hours.
On Monday, Federer secured his 1,000th week ranked inside the ATP's top 20.
And on Wednesday, his great frenemy Nadal will be looking to win his 1,000th ATP Tour match.
Defeat to Diego Schwartzman in Rome meant the Spaniard was stuck on 999 after beating Novak Djokovic in the French Open final.
But as the top seed at this week's Paris Masters 1000 event, Nadal, 34, is the heavy favourite for his clash against compatriot Feliciano Lopez.
Win that and he will join Federer as the only player to make it to 1,000 career wins, with the eight-time Wimbledon champ reaching the landmark in January 2015 when he beat Milos Raonic in the Brisbane final aged 33.
Federer, 39, is on 1,242 from 1,513 matches wheres Nadal – five years younger – has his 999 wins from 1,200 matches.
Djokovic is third in terms of matches played and matches won, with 1122 and 932 respectively.
Nadal's first ATP win came way back in his home island of Mallorca in 2002 as a fresh-faced 15-year-old beat Ramon Delgado 6-4 6-4 in the first round.
Since then he has gone on to win 20 singles Grand Slams – level with Federer at the top of the men's game – as well as Olympic gold in 2008 and five Davis Cup triumphs with Spain.
His rivalries with Federer and Djokovic have shaped tennis for the past 15 years.
Federer's longevity, however, means he set an incredible feat of his own this week.
With the new rankings updated, the Swiss star has now been in the top 20 for 1,000 weeks – 132 more than Andre Agassi in second.
Federer first broke into the top 20 way back in 2001 after winning his first ATP crown in Milan.
He dropped out after two weeks but reclaimed his spot in April 2001 – and has not left the top 20 ever since, incredibly.
American pair Agassi and Jimmy Connors are on 868 and 860 respectively with Nadal (792), Ivan Lendl (737), John McEnroe (730) and Djokovic (706) the top seven.
And Federer – who holds the record for the most weeks as world No1 with 310 – is now 81 weeks short of 1,000 weeks in the ATP top ten.
He is currently still recovering from two knee surgeries from earlier in the year but confirmed he has no plans of retiring just yet as he prepares a 2021 comeback.
Source: Read Full Article