Why Rafael Nadal Is “King Of Clay”

Rafael Nadal is back in action on tour after shocking 2^nd round exit against Lukas Rosol.  He remained away from the court for plenty of months.  He came back and participated in three clay court events.  He won two clay title one 250 and other 500 level by beating David Ferrer.  His come back has given tennis a new life, because tennis courts were looking very dull without him.  Now he made a strong comeback and won Indian Wells master by beating Federer and Del Potro.  His successful comeback is a huge good news for tennis world especially Nadal’s fans.  Everyone who is attached to tennis by any mean knows that Nadal is king of clay and he is man to beat on clay.  This is not only the phrase but the stats on Nadal on clay speak themselves.  He is unbeatable there, he won 38 titles on clay.  His has 255-9 record on clay, amazing record that is.  It means that he played 264 matches on clay and lost only 9 matches, after his debut on tour in 2002.  Lets take a brief look at his amazing stats on clay. 

Frech Open:

Since Nadal participated in Frech open 2005, he lost only one time there in 2009 to Robin Soderling.  He has 52-1 record at French open.  It means that French open belongs to Rafael Nadal.  He will be again man to beat there in 2013.  He won record 7 French open titles breaking Borg record of 6 French open title.  In 2012 he became only man in tennis history who won French open 7 times.  Amazing record that is.  He is only 26 and hungry for more titles.  So won most of matches in French open in straight sets.  The only man who could take him to five sets after Soderling was John Isner in 2011. I think he will collect at least 10 French open title if he continue to perform like this.  Moreover he never lost a best of five sets match on clay outside French open.  And most of his wins are in straight sets. 

Masters 1000 Tournaments:

Rafael Nadal has an amazing record in masters 1000 titles played on clay courts.  He has appeared in 20 masters 1000 finals on clay tournaments.  Out of which he won 16 finals.  He lost only to Roger Federer twice at Hamburg and at Madrid in 2009.  He also lost twice to Djokovic in 2011 at Madrid and Rome finals.  No other man could catch Nadal on clay courts masters 1000 events.  He won Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 8 straight years and this streak is still alive.  He also won Rome in 2012.  He would surely won at Madrid if it were to play on red clay.  That event was played on controversial blue clay.  Where he was defeated by Fernando Verdesco.  He lost only this match on clay last season.  Now he will appear in Monte Carlo with 42 match winning streak.  No one was able to beat him on this slow surface since last 8 years.  Amazing! 

Other Clay Events:

Rafael Nadal never lost a Davis cup match played on clay.  And he is backbone of Spanish team in Davis cup.  Also Nadal has a 34 match winning streak at Barcelona and 32 match winning streak in straight sets.  He never lost in Barcelona for last 6 years.  Another amazing fact is that he never lost in April since 2005.  He has 77 match winning streak on tour in April.  Recently he lost in Brazil open final.  That was his only 5^th defeat in any clay court tournament final after Djokovic and Federer.  Also he is the only man who has won two titles 7 or more times(French and Monte Carlo).  He has also won at least two clay court titles since 2005.  I don’t think anyone can match Nadal’s records.  All these brief stats show that why Nadal in named as king of clay.  He will be man to beat on clay again.  Djokovic and Murray are the players who can stop him, but if he shows that level he had shown in previous years, no one will be able to touch him this year also.  I think he will again win at least three more clay court titles this year again( he has already two clay titles in his bag).  But this is just the beginning.