Rafael Nadal has an incredible 91% win percentage on clay. Yet, there are a few records on the surface which Rafael Nadal does not possess. One such record is winning the most number of matches on it. That record still belongs to Argentine tennis legend Guillermo Vilas and a Rafael Nadal superfan explained the reason for the same in a tweet recently.
The tweet endorsed the fact that Rafael Nadal would’ve had far greater records on the surface had he played in as many matches as Guillermo Vilas did.
Guillermo Vilas won 681 matches on clay, more than anyone else in the history of the sport. Rafael Nadal, in comparison, has won 475 matches and lost 47 on the surface. But Vilas played a whopping 854 matches, which is 333 matches more than what Rafael Nadal played, which stands at 521.
So looking at Nadal’s win percentage, the Spaniard could have had greater records on clay had he played as much as Vilas or more than him. The X user meant to say that during Nadal’s career and even nowadays, most tournaments on the ATP Tour, are held on indoor and outdoor hard court surfaces. Two out of 4 Grand Slams, i.e the Australian Open and US Open also give hard court specialists a greater advantage.
Guillermo Vilas played tennis in the 1970s. All of his Grand Slam titles and most of his other ATP titles came in that decade. Back then, 60% of the tennis tournaments used to be on clay courts. Now, it has significantly reduced to a smaller percentage.
While at it, the X user also took a shot at Novak Djokovic fans. He believes that the Serb only achieved this kind of monumental success with the aid of modern-day surfaces i.e. indoor & outdoor hardcourts, grass courts, and carpet courts. However, he isn’t accurate in this sense since factually, Djokovic is the most versatile player out of all hard court specialists in the last 20 years, winning 3 Grand Slams on clay alone.
As of April 26, Rafael Nadal’s W-L record on clay stands at 475-46, and Guillermo Vilas’ stands at 681-173.
When Rafael Nadal’s Uncle Toni Nadal Blasted Authorities for Clay Bias
Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal’s uncle and his longest coach since childhood, also once spoke to CLAY magazine about the matter. This interview was right after the French Open 2023 when Djokovic registered his 23rd Grand Slam. He surpassed Nadal’s tally of 22 and was ahead of any other men’s tennis player in history. While Toni Nadal admitted that Djokovic is the greatest, he did have one small complaint.
Similar to the above discussion, Toni Nadal also believes that had there been more Grand Slams played on clay courts, his nephew Rafael Nadal would’ve been the uncontested GOAT. In that case, Rafael Nadal would’ve won way more Grand Slams than anyone else, and the GOAT debate would’ve been put to rest. This is similar to ‘Tennis In The Park’, who believes that Nadal would’ve won 778 matches if he played as many as Guillermo Vilas did i.e. 854.
“Are you saying Djokovic is better than Nadal?” asked the CLAY interviewer.
“Well, Djokovic is better because he has won more titles than Rafael. If Djokovic is 23? But let’s establish a number of things: we live in a tour that is always played on fast courts. My nephew always plays three Grand Slams on the surface he doesn’t do well and one on the surface he does well. He has always played all the Masters on the surface he doesn’t do well on. In the world of sport, the officials can tip the balance one way or the other. Who wins the Tour de France? If the sports officials puts in the mountains, one type of rider will win it, and if he puts in a time trial, another type of rider will win it,” answered Toni Nadal.
Toni Nadal was clear in his analysis that his nephew was way superior on clay than any other surface. He also mentioned that by playing on other courts, mostly hard courts, his body depleted rapidly over time. It was hard for him to keep up on these courts, as evident by his persistent injuries of late.
