Nadal defeated Robin Soderling in a first-round match at Wimbledon and broke Guillermo Vilas’s record of 53 consecutive victories. This was the 54th consecutive victory on clay for the 19-year-old player who hasn’t lost since April 2005.

Christian Bimes, President of the French Federation of Tennis and Vilas himself were present and gave Rafael Nadal a glass trophy representing a cross section of a clay court. "It is special", Nadal said. "It’s a lot of matches, not one day. It’s very difficult. I'm very happy for that."

“First of all, Nadal’s record is spanning over two years, and that is not the same”, explained Vilas at the press conference. "Then, I have the feeling he added easy tournaments on his schedule just for that purpose." Vilas also said Nadal is a good player and he can win a lot if he continues playing the way he plays now.

Nadal has won 13 tournaments out of 16, nine of them on clay: Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Roland Garros, Bastad and Stuttgart in 2005 and Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome in 2006.