“If it is the last time, then you, the crowd, have been amazing,” Rafael Nadal said in his on-court speech following what could have been his last match ever at the French Open. “Today the feelings I have are difficult to describe in words. For me, it is so special to feel the love in the place I love the most.”
It’s no wonder Nadal loves Roland Garros more than any other spot on tour. The King of Clay, who lost to Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the first round on Monday afternoon, has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles in Paris. If it was his farewell from the tournament, Nadal finishes with an utterly absurd 112-4 record.
We’ll speak in past tense, since–in Nadal’s own words–“there is a big percentage I won’t be back at Roland Garros, but I can’t say 100 percent.”
The Spaniard lost to only three players in 19 appearances at the clay-court major: Robin Soderling, Novak Djokovic (twice), and Zverev. He lost prior to the quarterfinals just twice and never lost in the final. That’s right; Nadal was 14-0 in French Open championship matches.
“Mentally, he’s the best I have ever seen,” 2013 runner-up David Ferrer praised. “Physically he is unbelievable.”
Nadal’s first final, in 2005, came against world No. 37 Mariano Puerta of Argentina. The little-known left-hander actually accounted himself quite well in that match, losing to Nadal 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5.
“When I went off the court, I knew I had lost against the best player in the world on clay,” Puerta commented. “What could I do?”
It’s a question that surely a whole host of others have asked after getting embarrased by Nadal on the terre battue.
Many of them had absolutely no chance–much less of a chance than even Puerta, for example. A ridiculous 90 of Nadal’s 112 French Open victories came without dropping a set. Four times he went the entire way without losing a single set in the entire tournament. Nadal won 24 sets with a bagel and 62 others with a breadstick. His legendary introduction–which reached a zenith in 2024 with 14 years to be read by Marc Maury, the voice of Roland Garros–lasted longer than some of his matches.
Roger Federer, who was 0-6 lifetime against Nadal at Roland Garros, accepted one of those bagels and three of those breadsticks.
“Rafa has dominated this tournament like perhaps never before,” Federer said after winning a meager four games in the 2008 final. “He dominated from the first point until the end.”
And that was the thing about Nadal. He was ruthless regardless of the score. If he humiliated you for two sets, he would waste no time humiliating you for one more even though the outcome was no longer in any doubt. In fact, out of 92 French Open matches in which he won the first two sets, he finished 90 of them in straights. Only twice did he lose the third set after taking the first two (6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 over Djokovic in the 2012 final and 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 over David Goffin in the 2019 third round).
Stan Wawrinka, a Roland Garros champion in his own right, never came close to winning a set off Nadal in two tries. The Swiss succumbed 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in the 2013 quarters and 6-2, 6-3, 6-1–yes, the exact same scoreline–in the 2017 final.
“I think to play Rafa on clay in the Roland-Garros final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis,” Wawrinka said in 2017.
Dominic Thiem agreed after falling to Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the 2019 title match.
“In in my opinion, to play Rafa here on Court Philippe-Chatrier, it’s still the toughest challenge,” the Austrian argued. “But I guess also outside of tennis, it’s probably one of the most difficult things ever in sports in general to beat him here on this court.”
That’s why very few did. And it is likely that no one ever will again.
The King of Clay
Nice tribute. Thanks.