Numbers to make your head spin: seven of Nadal’s clay-court records (excluding Roland Garros)
A closer look at seven of Rafael Nadal’s records on his favourite surface, clay
From his first title on the clay of Sopot in 2004 to his final trophy on the ochre of Roland Garros in 2022, Rafael Nadal has proved time and again why he is known as the King of Clay. It was on this surface that he exploded onto the world stage, winning the Paris Grand Slam 14 times of course, but not only that. Here are the Spanish player’s clay court records, excluding Roland Garros.
1 – Longest winning streak on clay: 81 wins between 2005 and 2007
Quite simply, it’s the longest unbeaten streak on a single surface in the history of men’s tennis! (Chris Evert owns the overall record with a quite ridiculous 125 straight wins on clay). The previous record was held by Guillermo Vilas with 53 wins. His superb run began with a victory over Gaël Monfils in the first round of the 2005 Monte-Carlo tournament, and ended when he lost to Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg tournament in May 2007. During this period, he won 13 titles on clay, including two French Open titles.
2 – 63 titles won on clay
A record 63 of his 92 ATP Tour titles have been won on clay. The previous record was held by Guillermo Villas, who won 49 titles on clay. Here are the details of his 63 titles:
14 – Roland-Garros
12 – Barcelona
11 – Monte-Carlo
10 – Rome
5 – Madrid
2 – Stuttgart
2 – Acapulco
2 – Hamburg
1 – Sopot
1 – Sao Paulo
1 – Bastad
1 – Rio Open
1 – Buenos Aires
He is the only player to have more trophies (63) than matches lost on the same surface (51).
3 – 90.5% clay-court wins
No one has ever won more in the history of tennis! Rafael Nadal has 90.5% of wins on clay, with 484 victories and just 51 defeats. Björn Borg has the second best ratio in history, with 86.1% of wins on this surface. In comparison, Roger Federer has an 86.9% win ratio on grass and Novak Djokovic 84.3% on hard court.
4 – Rafael Nadal has won 54.3% of the tournaments he has played on clay
116 appearances, 63 titles, Rafael Nadal has won more than half of the tournaments he has played on clay (54.3%), another record for the Spaniard that is hard to beat.
5 – In 2010, Nadal became the only player in history to win every major clay-court tournament (Grand Slam and Masters 1000) in the same season
A year after his first defeat at Roland-Garros (2009) against Robin Soderling, Nadal came back more prepared than ever to reclaim his kingdom on the clay. By winning in Monte-Carlo (beating Verdasco in the final), Rome (beating Ferrer in the final), Madrid (beating Federer in the final) and Roland-Garros (beating Soderling in the final), the Spaniard became the first man to win all three clay Masters 1000s and Roland-Garros in the same year, a feat dubbed the “Clay Slam” by the media. He lost only two sets in his clay-court campaign, and won the French Open without dropping a set for the second time in his career (equalling the record held by Björn Borg).
6 – Between 2005 and 2013, Nadal won 46 consecutive matches at the Monte-Carlo tournament – a record run on the ATP circuit
While the name Rafael Nadal is obviously inseparable from the French Open, with its 14 Porte d’Auteuil titles, the Spaniard also has at least ten victories in three other tournaments: Barcelona (12), Monte-Carlo (11) and Madrid (10). And it is in the Principality that he holds a fabulous record with 46 matches won consecutively between 2005 and 2013, the longest winning streak in a single tournament. He finally lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 in 2013.
7 – Between the 2017 French Open and the 2018 Madrid Masters 1000, Rafael Nadal won 50 consecutive sets on clay
This record doesn’t just stop at clay, it’s a record for all surfaces combined! Between his first-round win over Benoit Paire at Roland Garros in 2017 and his third-round victory over Diego Schwartzman at the Madrid Masters 1000, Rafael Nadal won 50 consecutive sets on clay! It was Dominic Thiem who finally put an end to the Majorcan’s fine run in the next round, defeating him in two sets.
