Rafael Nadal and clay is one of the most endearing love stories ever in tennis. Nothing was more certain than Nadal winning on the clay court every time he played. So the question always arises among tennis fans – ‘How many times has Rafael Nadal lost on clay?’
The Spaniard won 14 French Open titles in less than 20 years. However, as with even the greatest success stories, there are always a few failures. He’s lost at the French Open only thrice in his career and he’s lost 45 matches in total on clay courts so far in the last 21 years.
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about Rafael Nadal and his dominance in ‘Clay Courts’ apart from ‘How many times Rafael Nadal has lost on clay?’ –
Who are the players who have beaten Rafael Nadal on clay?
The list of players who’ve defeated Rafael Nadal on clay courts are:
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Gaston Gaudio, David Ferrer, Fabio Fognini, Andy Murray, and Dominic Thiem are the players who’ve beaten Nadal multiple times in clay court matches.
Some others who defeated him at least once are Robin Soderling, Olivier Rochus, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, Igor Andreev and Juan Carlos Ferrero amongst others.
Who has the best record against Nadal on clay?
Tennis players across generations have struggled to find a win against Rafael Nadal on the clay surface. However, one player has found a way to beat him plenty of times. In the 45 matches Nadal lost, 8 of them have come against one single player. It is none other than 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic beat Nadal twice at the French Open and at the Madrid Open, thrice at the Italian Open and the Rome Masters combined, and once at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Has Nadal ever lost 0-6 on clay?
Yes, Rafael Nadal has lost 0-6 on clay. Not one, but two players scored a bagel against him in clay courts. It first happened at the 2005 ATP Buenos Aires, where Nadal lost the second set of the match 0-6. His opponent was local player Gaston Gaudio.
Nadal’s other bagel loss came against Roger Federer at the 2007 Masters Series Hamburg Finals. Nadal lost 0-6 in the last set of the match, after winning the first set 6-2. Federer won the match 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Rafael Nadal has a 63-8 win-loss record on clay courts finals, which is staggering. He is a mile ahead of any of his fellow players when it comes to clay court. He has a 464-43 win-loss record on clay court matches. Nadal won 81 consecutive matches on his favorite surface from April 2005 to May 2007. This is the longest single-surface win streak by any player on any surface.
But getting to the French Open, Nadal’s favorite Grand Slam of all, the Spaniard has won 112 matches across 18 appearances, and only lost three times. Here is a breakdown of those three matches Nadal lost:
Nadal’s first Roland Garros loss came in the 2009 edition, where he couldn’t even reach the quarterfinals. Entering the tournament as a 4-time consecutive champion, Nadal faced a red-hot in-form Robin Soderling who knocked him out. He had won his first three matches in straight sets, before losing the fourth in four sets to Soderling.
The score was 2-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-7 (2-7). Two of those rounds went to the tie-breakers. It was one of the biggest shocks for the Spaniard and in the tennis circuit at the time.
For the longest time after that, Nadal didn’t lose another French Open match. He was back in his merry ways of winning until he met Novak Djokovic at his peak in 2015. On that instance, Nadal lost in straight sets, 5-7, 3-6, 1-6 to Djokovic in the quarterfinals, with that year being one of the Spaniard’s worst in his career so far.
Nadal withdrew his name from the 2016 edition due to a wrist injury but was back to his winning ways again. His next loss at the French Open, and to date his last, came at the 2021 edition, also to Djokovic. It was the semi-finals of the tournament and he lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 2-6.
In all the times Nadal lost at the French Open, he never lost in the finals.
Rafael Nadal has maintained an equally impressive record at every other ‘Clay Court’ tournament – The Madrid Masters, The Monte Carlo Masters, the Italian Open, and the Barcelona Open. Alongside Djokovic, Nadal is the only other player in history to have at least five Masters titles at four separate events.
Nadal’s other next great achievement after 14 French Open titles is winning the Barcelona Open 12 times. Here too, he hasn’t lost any finals to date. He won the Monte Carlo Masters Finals 11 times. Madrid Masters 5 times, and the Rome Masters or Italian Open 10 times.
