In terms of statistics, Rafael Nadal might not be the outright pick for the GOAT debate. However, the Spaniard was able to instill fear in his opponents, particularly on clay, like no other. Sam Querrey and the remaining panel of the Nothing Major podcast spoke about their personal experiences to support this narrative.
Querrey, who was a fairly decent player with 10 titles and a career-high ranking of #11, was afraid of being pitted against Nadal. To further explain how intimidating Rafa was, the former American pro revealed that his only goal was to not lose 0-6, 0-6.
“I remember having that fear early in my career, especially on clay, losing 0 and 0 (0-6, 0-6). I was just begging when draws came out please don’t put me against Rafa like first round of the French Open because I could lose 0-0,” Querrey began.
Querrey compared his mindset when facing Rafa to how he felt when competing against Roger Federer. When going up against the Swiss maestro, he wasn’t afraid of suffering a humiliating loss. On the other hand, there was an intimidating factor with Rafa on the other side of the net.
“You were never worried about Roger blowing you off the court. Never. Rafa, you were afraid of it early. He just got more intimidating and more dominant,” Querrey concluded.
John Isner and Steve Johnson agreed with their compatriot, recollecting tales from the time Rafa put fear in their eyes.
“He was such a bully from that first ball onward. He was just ridiculous. I would put him as the greatest competitor in the history of sports,” Isner said.
“There was a lot of fear in my eyes and not a lot of fear in his eyes,” Johnson said.
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One might argue that each of these players didn’t witness much success on the clay court. Hence, they were scared to face Nadal.
But even clay court specialists, such as Dominic Thiem, would lose the psychological battle even before the match began.
Thiem reveals losing the mental battle against Nadal when playing at Roland Garros
Going up against Rafael Nadal is a mental barrier that prevents most players from performing at their best. To add to it, Nadal’s long list of achievements being announced at the French Open makes it even more difficult for opponents to get their heads in the match.
Thiem is one of the only few players to defeat Nadal multiple times on clay. Despite defeating the Mallorca native four times on the surface, Thiem was always intimidated when facing Nadal at the French Open.
“I think the worst thing in tennis is if you play against Rafa in Philippe-Chatrier, and then the guy starts to talk ‘2005…’ You already lost,” Thiem told Thanasi Kokkinakis and Denis Shapovalov in a UTS Tour episode.
The Prince of Clay lost in his head even before those matches began against Nadal. This is evident by Thiem’s 0-4 head-to-head record at the Grand Slam. To make matters even worse, the Austrian superstar could only clinch one set in those four meetings.
