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With 46 titles on clay, Rafael Nadal is only three shy of Guillermo Vilas’s record of 49 titles on the surface. However, the Argentine legend won just a solitary French Open title. Nadal, on the other hand has a record nine titles at Roland Garros and in his ten appearances at the event, has lost just a single match. He also holds an 81-match winning streak on clay, the longest on a surface.However, the 28-year-old’s clay-court season this year has gotten off to its worst start and many have started voicing their doubts on whether the Spaniard will be able to win a 10th Roland Garros crown this year.Even as Nadal tries to recover his prowess on clay, let us take a look at what has unquestionably been Nadal’s decade at Roland Garros.
#1 Rafael Nadal Vs Mariano Puerta (2005)
So clinical was Rafael Nadal’s performance in the 2005 French Open that it seemed improbable that it was his first appearance at the event. The Spaniard, who turned 19 in the course of the 2005 French Open, had headed into the event on the back of three wins in Barcelona, Rome and Monte Carlo.
Despite his tender years and lack of experience at the professional level, he was dubbed one of the clear favourites to win the event in ’05. And he did not disappoint those who had envisaged his triumph.
Having won 24 consecutive matches prior to his debut at the French Open, Nadal took out another promising youngster and 30th seed Richard Gasquet in the third round before clashing with Roger Federer for the first time in a Grand Slam event in the semi-final.
The much-anticipated clash was a bit of an anti-climax since Federer failed to put up a strong fight against Nadal, who cruised to a win in four sets.
Two days later, Nadal took on Mariano Puerta in the final. The left-handed Puerta, despite being the experienced of the two finalists, was clearly the underdog. With an elegant left-handed backhand and a forceful forehand, Puerta had got the better of players like Ivan Ljubicic and Nikolay Davydenko en route to the final and was clearly no pushover, a point that came to the fore when he took the first set against all expectations.
But, Nadal was swift in his recovery and closed out the match in four sets 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 to lift the first of his nine Roland Garros crowns.
Here are highlights from that final:
#2 Rafael Nadal Vs Roger Federer (2006)
The Roland Garros final of 2006 set the template for the next two finals at Roland Garros and three more finals at Wimbledon.
Nadal was the defending champion heading into Roland Garros ’06, while Federer was his distinguished challenger. Following his successes in ’05, the Spaniard had ascended to the second spot in the ATP rankings and was, as the cliché goes, breathing down Federer’s neck.
In the run-up to French Open ’06, Nadal won four tournaments on European clay, in the course of which he went past Guillermo Vilas’s match-winning streak on clay of 53 matches. Federer, on the other hand, had succumbed to defeats at the hands of Spaniard even before their summit clash at Roland Garros, losing to Nadal at Dubai, Monte Carlo and Rome.
While the Swiss ace had reasserted his supremacy on hard courts by winning his second Australian Open title, Nadal remained the best on clay. In a fortuitous coincidence, the French Open final between Nadal and Federer in ’06 fell on the same day as the FIFA Football final between France and Italy. Thankfully, the final was scheduled at a later time.
The final was definitely more competitive that the duo’s semi-final clash at the same venue last year. Nadal lost the first 1-6 before paying back Federer in the same coin, taking the second set with the same margin. After allowing Nadal to take the third set with relative ease, Federer forced the fourth set into a tiebreak, which Nadal won 7-4 to lap up his second French Open crown.
Here are the highlights from the final:
#3 Rafael Nadal Vs Roger Federer (2007)
The unthinkable had happened. Rafael Nadal had finally dropped a match on clay, losing to Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Open. The loss snapped Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay, which remains the longest on a surface by any player till date.
However, the Mallorcan had however, won titles at Monte Caro, Rome and Barcelona and the loss to Federer at Hamburg notwithstanding, his position as the best clay-courtier remained unchallenged. En route to the final, Nadal defeated two former World Numbers ones, one of whom was also a former French Open Champion. Lleyton Hewitt went down to Nadal in the fourth round, while Moya succumbed to his compatriot in the quarter-final. Heading into the final, Nadal hadn’t dropped a single set, while Federer had been tested by Tommy Robredo, who pushed him to four sets.
The final was more or less a replay of ’06 final. Federer won the second set, but Nadal had little trouble claiming his third French Open title and completing his hat-trick at Roland Garros, as he wrapped up the match, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
At the Wimbledon final nearly a month later, Nadal stretched Federer to five sets for the first time since 2001. The match was almost a forewarning for Federer, who realised that he couldn’t take his domination at Wimbledon for granted.
#4 Rafael Nadal Vs Roger Federer (2008)
Rafael Nadal became the first player after Bjorn Borg to win the French Open without dropping a single set.
Roger Federer’s season had already suffered a serious setback following his semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic in straight sets at the Australian Open. Nadal continued his domination on clay, snatching the Hamburg Masters title away from Federer.
In the semi-final, Nadal beat then Australian Open champion and third seed Djokovic in straight sets to set up a third consecutive French Open final with Federer, who sailed past Gael Monfils with ease in the semi-final.
The Federer-Nadal rivalry, following their epic ’07 Wimbledon contest, was at its acme and the final at Roland Garros was a hugely anticipated affair. However, Nadal, on top of his game, made mincemeat of the Swiss maestro, dropping just four games in the final and handing Federer his first bagel since 1999.
While the French Open final had fizzled out like a failed firecracker, it seemed as though both players had been saving the best for the Wimbledon final. In ’08, with Federer looking to break Bjorn Borg’s record of five straight Wimbledon finals, clashed with Nadal for a third consecutive time at the event. The match turned out to be an unforgettable affair, likely to go down as the best Wimbledon final in the Open Era. Nadal finally wrested the Wimbledon crown from Federer’s vice-like grip.
Federer dubbed the loss at Wimbledon a ‘disaster’.
#5 Rafael Nadal Vs Robin Soderling (2009)
After having reduced Roger Federer to tears at the Australian Open, which Nadal won for the first time, the Spaniard, who had also snatched the World Number One ranking from the Swiss in 08, wasnt expected to have any trouble winning a fifth straight French Open title.
Heading into the French Open in 09, Nadal had won a record fifth Monte Carlo Masters crown, becoming the first to win five consecutive Masters titles. His win against Lleyton Hewitt took his winning streak at French Open to 31, going past Bjorn Borg s 28. However, in the fourth round of the same tournament, the Nadal juggernaut was brought to an unexpected end, by Robin Soderling, who holds the distinction of having handed Nadal his sole defeat at Roland Garros.
#6 Rafael Nadal Vs Robin Soderling (2010)
It was payback time. After having suffered an ignominious loss to the towering Swede in last year’s French Open, Rafael Nadal was raring to set the record straight against Robin Soderling.
After having defeated Nadal in the fourth round, Soderling took out Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez to set up a final date with Roger Federer.
Soderling came undone against Federer in straight sets, and the latter finished his ‘Career Grand Slam’.
The 2010 French Open final was the first since 2006 not to feature Federer.
En route to the final, Nadal beat former World Number one Lleyton Hewitt in the third round and hadn’t dropped a single set. Robin Soderling, meanwhile, avenged his final loss to Federer in ’09, taking out the Swiss top seed in the quarter-final.
Many anticipated the 2010 French Open final to be a closely fought affair, since both players clearly had points to prove. However, Nadal played as though the ’09 encounter with Soderling had never transpired. The final turned out to be a lop-sided affair, with Nadal winning the match in straight sets and taking home his fifth French Open title.
Nadal followed up his win at Roland Garros with wins at Wimbledon and US Open. At the 2011 Australian Open, there was much anticipation surrounding Nadal’s ‘Rafa Slam’. However, Nadal was defeated by David Ferrer in the semi-final and the opportunity to win four slams in a row eluded Nadal.
#7 Rafael Nadal Vs Roger Federer (2011)
The greatest rivalry that tennis had ever witnessed resurfaced as Nadal and Federer vied for the French Open title in 2011.
Never before had Nadal been tested as severely on the surface of which he had proved to be the undisputed master. Heading into the French Open in 2011, Nadal, although had retained his World Number one ranking, had lost ownership of two Clay Court titles that he had reigned supreme over for the last six years. In both the events, the man who had succeeded in getting the better of him was the same: Novak Djokovic.
While Nadal continued to reign supreme at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Djokovic succeeded in beating him at Rome and Madrid.
At the French Open, however, he was spared the trouble of facing Novak Djokovic, who went down to Roger Federer in four sets in the semi-final. That, however, doesn’t necessarily imply that Nadal wasn’t tested at the 2011 French Open.
For the first time in seven appearances, Nadal played a five-setter at the French Open against an unseeded John Isner. After losing the first set, the big serving American bounced back to take the second and third sets in tiebreaks, but the tenacious Nadal fought back to take the match, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4.
The final turned out to be a traditional Federer-Nadal French Open final, with the Swiss taking one set but ultimately going down to the Spaniard for the fifth time at the French Open.
#8 Rafael Nadal Vs Novak Djokovic (2012)
2012 had commenced with the world of tennis witnessing one of the greatest, not to mention one of its longest, battles at the Australian Open. Nadal and Djokovic resumed hostilities in the final of the Australian Open in ’12, which went on for a mammoth five hours and 53 minutes. Djokovic won the slug fest and it seemed like the Nadal-Federer rivalry, may as well get eclipsed.
Throughout the European clay-court season, Nadal continued to look more vulnerable, as he lost to compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the third round of the Madrid Masters. However, his dominance at Monte Carlo continued and he entered Roland Garros ’12 as the second seed.
Nadal, however, showed no signs of weakness as he marched into his seventh French Open final without dropping a set. In the final, Djokovic lost the first two sets before turning the match into an even contest by taking the third set 6-2. But, Nadal wasn’t to be denied as he prevailed over the Serb to take the match, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
#9 Rafael Nadal Vs David Ferrer (2013)
The result of the Nadal v/s David Ferrer was a foregone conclusion since the general consensus among those who followed Roland Garros 2013 was that the final had already taken place.
Nadal was wracked by injuries through the last months of 2012 and the early days of 2013. A stomach virus had forced Nadal to withdraw from the Australian Open after tendinitis had kept him out of the Olympics in 2012.
His dominance at Monte Carlos Masters came to an end as Novak Djokovic denied him his ninth straight win at the event. However, Nadal went on to register wins at Barcelona, Rome and Madrid to head into the French Open as the third seed.
Nadal, despite facing seasoned campaigners such as Stanislas Wawrinka, hadn’t dropped a single set till the semi-final. Djokovic too had been equally dominant, although Philipp Kohlschreiber had managed to win a set in the fourth round.
The semi-final lasted four hours and 37 minutes and was widely considered the best clay-court match ever played. Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe rated the match among some of the best they had ever seen.
Nadal called it his greatest win while Djokovic dubbed it his greatest loss. The scoreline of the semi-final read: 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7 in Nadal’s favour.
The final had the term ‘anti-climax’ written all over it, as Ferrer folded without offering much resistance in straight sets.
#10 Rafael Nadal Vs Novak Djokovic (2014)
Rafael Nadal lost to Stanislas Wawrinka for the first time in the final of the 2014 Australian Open to hand the Swiss his first Grand Slam title.
Following his disappointment at the Australian Open, Nadal was beset by a series of losses in the European clay-court season. He was handed a loss in the quarter-finals at the Monte Carlo Masters by David Ferrer before being stunned by Nicolas Almagro at the same stage at the Barcelona Open. However, he redeemed himself to an extent by taking Madrid Open, after Kei Nishikori retired in the third set.
Meanwhile, Djokovic had improved immensely on clay and many believed that French Open 2014 wouldn’t be a stroll in the park for Nadal.
Nadal was the top seed at the French Open and he dropped just the one set, against David Ferrer en route to the final against Djokovic. In the semi-final, he beat 2013 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in straight sets and dispelled all doubts pertaining to his waning prowess on clay.
Djokovic got the ’14 French Open final off to a rollicking start, winning the first set 6-3, but Nadal, as is his wont, fought back to take the match in four sets, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4.
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