It is hard to argue that there has been a greater sporting achievement to come out of tennis — in terms of size, longevity, or fame — than Rafael Nadal’s record on at the French open.
14 Roland Garros titles, a win-loss record of 112-4 (96.55%) and a statue that now patrols those courts. The list of achievements, as astounding as they may be, only tells a small part of the story of how Nadal changed perceptions of playing on the red stuff; how he added glamour and a heightened sense of history every time he participated on the surface that had long been dismissed as the working-class athlete’s version of the finesse-fuelled, largely aristocratic game played on the grass courts at tennis’s holy grail of Wimbledon.
However, as Nadal announced on Thursday that he is set to retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup finals next month—following two years of awkward toil to return to the elite stages again—the urge to pigeonhole the Spaniard’s legacy as merely the greatest clay courter ever would be a disservice to one of the few universally acknowledged sporting greats to emerge from the game.
In Open Era men’s tennis history, only five players have won more than 8 Grand Slam titles, the number that Nadal won outside of clay. Novak Djokovic, and Novak Djokovic alone, is the only player who has matched, and surpassed, Nadal for all-court greatness. The two of them have won at least two titles at each of the four Majors (Djokovic has won three).
His two greatest match wins — the rain-curtailed five-set triumph to dethrone Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2008 (dubbed by some as the greatest tennis match ever), and the come-from-behind victory to win the Australian Open shortly after injury comeback in 2022 — both came away from clay.
He also did so in the toughest era to win Majors, sandwiched between the contrasting styles of two of the greatest players, both of whom count him as their greatest rival.
It was the genius of Federer that allowed him to arrive in the middle of the era dominated by power baseliners and carve out a nearly unplayable all-court offensive style. Nadal, with his athleticism and unique shotmaking, found the antidote from within the power baseline game itself. When the younger, more cerebral Djokovic arrived onto the scene, for long, Nadal found the smarts to improve from his one-dimensional game to prove to be his equal.
Together, the triumvirate’s cross-rivalry lent a higher profile to the sport. Not only would their matchups be rich in narrative, but also elevate and evolve the technical and physical limits of the sport. Federer exits the stage as the most universally adored, Djokovic has now established himself as the greatest thanks to his longevity and consistency.
For Nadal to emerge from this era as merely the clay GOAT would be reductive. After having altered his style to adjust to the limitations of his battered body, and carving a body of work that consists of 22 Majors no less.
The part he played in the tri-valry, the manner in which he fought to the last point to create some of the most epic matches and wins, and the perceptions he changed about tennis, must all be counted alongside his clay greatness when charting his true legacy.
QUICK COMMENT: Rafael Nadal must go down as an all-court great, not just a clay king
It is hard to argue that there has been a greater sporting achievement to come out of tennis — in terms of size, longevity, or fame — than Rafael Nadal’s record on at the French open.
14 Roland Garros titles, a win-loss record of 112-4 (96.55%) and a statue that now patrols those courts. The list of achievements, as astounding as they may be, only tells a small part of the story of how Nadal changed perceptions of playing on the red stuff; how he added glamour and a heightened sense of history every time he participated on the surface that had long been dismissed as the working-class athlete’s version of the finesse-fuelled, largely aristocratic game played on the grass courts at tennis’s holy grail of Wimbledon.
However, as Nadal announced on Thursday that he is set to retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup finals next month—following two years of awkward toil to return to the elite stages again—the urge to pigeonhole the Spaniard’s legacy as merely the greatest clay courter ever would be a disservice to one of the few universally acknowledged sporting greats to emerge from the game.
In Open Era men’s tennis history, only five players have won more than 8 Grand Slam titles, the number that Nadal won outside of clay. Novak Djokovic, and Novak Djokovic alone, is the only player who has matched, and surpassed, Nadal for all-court greatness. The two of them have won at least two titles at each of the four Majors (Djokovic has won three).
His two greatest match wins — the rain-curtailed five-set triumph to dethrone Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2008 (dubbed by some as the greatest tennis match ever), and the come-from-behind victory to win the Australian Open shortly after injury comeback in 2022 — both came away from clay.
He also did so in the toughest era to win Majors, sandwiched between the contrasting styles of two of the greatest players, both of whom count him as their greatest rival.
It was the genius of Federer that allowed him to arrive in the middle of the era dominated by power baseliners and carve out a nearly unplayable all-court offensive style. Nadal, with his athleticism and unique shotmaking, found the antidote from within the power baseline game itself. When the younger, more cerebral Djokovic arrived onto the scene, for long, Nadal found the smarts to improve from his one-dimensional game to prove to be his equal.
Together, the triumvirate’s cross-rivalry lent a higher profile to the sport. Not only would their matchups be rich in narrative, but also elevate and evolve the technical and physical limits of the sport. Federer exits the stage as the most universally adored, Djokovic has now established himself as the greatest thanks to his longevity and consistency.
For Nadal to emerge from this era as merely the clay GOAT would be reductive. After having altered his style to adjust to the limitations of his battered body, and carving a body of work that consists of 22 Majors no less.
The part he played in the tri-valry, the manner in which he fought to the last point to create some of the most epic matches and wins, and the perceptions he changed about tennis, must all be counted alongside his clay greatness when charting his true legacy.
OR
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