Rafael Nadal breaks McEnroe record with 50th consecutive set win

Rafael Nadal on Thursday breaks John McEnroe's 34-year-old set record when he won his 50th consecutive set on clay and defeated Diego Schwartzman at the Madrid Open.

Nadal's 6-3, 6-4 victory moves him into the quarter-finals in the Spanish capital and also sets a new Open era best for the longest streak of victorious sets on a single surface.

McEnroe's 49-set winning streak on carpet in 1984 included him clinching the Madrid Indoor Open title and Nadal may well be about to follow the same path.

He will play Austria's Dominic Thiem on Friday for a place in the last four.

The 31-year old tennis star insisted just before the match that his latest milestone had barely crossed his mind but if nothing else which is also a testament to Nadal’s relentless consistency over the past 12 months which includes tournament triumphs in Barcelona, Monte Carlo and last year's French Open

If he manages to clinch the tournament, then Madrid Open will turn out to be the 17^th major crown in his career.

Schwartzman, ranked 16th in the world, briefly threatened a comeback on Manolo Santana court when he broke back at 4-3 in the second set.

But the Argentinian double-faulted to give his opponent a second break in the very next game, as Nadal sealed a straight-forward victory in an hour and 44 minutes.

(With inputs from agencies)