Rafael Nadal is the GOAT ahead of Roger Federer, it wouldn't even be a debate if there were more clay tournaments: Jean-Rene Lisnard

Jean-Rene Lisnard recently threw his weight behind Rafael Nadal in the GOAT debate. In the aftermath of Nadal's Italian Open triumph last week, Lisnard asserted that the Spaniard's claim to the title of GOAT would have been stronger if there had been more claycourt events on the ATP tour.

Jean-Rene Lisnard is a former World No. 84 who now serves as a tennis coach. The Monaco resident has worked with several top players, including Daniil Medvedev, in the past.

In a recent conversation with Welovetennis, Lisnard claimed that even though he had a bias towards Roger Federer, he couldn't deny that Rafael Nadal's showing at the Italian Open reinforced his status as the 'strongest' player of all.

"In Rome, Nadal has again proved that he was really above (everyone else)," Lisnard said. "For me, he is the strongest, even finally in front of Roger Federer whom I love so much."

Jean-Rene Lisnard then delved deeper into the GOAT debate, suggesting that Rafael Nadal has been unlucky with the paucity of claycourt events on the calendar. The Monegasque believes Nadal would have been the choice for the GOAT if clay tournaments were as prevalent as hardcourt ones.

"He is playing for nothing," Lisnard continued. "After that, we would not even ask ourselves this question of GOAT if there were a few more tournaments on clay during the year. The circuit is still ultra dominated by the hard. I do not find that necessarily logical and I dare not imagine Rafa's record if the clay was more present on the international scene."

While many would argue that Lisnard's argument holds merit, some might point out that Roger Federer might have also benefitted if there were more tournaments on grass - a surface that the Swiss has dominated over the years.

Rafael Nadal and his mind-boggling numbers on clay

Rafael Nadal with his 2021 Italian Open title

Rafael Nadal has participated in 106 ATP claycourt events over the course of his career. He has won a whopping 62 of those events, while finishing as the runner-up in a further seven.

Nadal's title winning percentage on clay is 58.49%, which is far better than the second-placed Bjorn Borg's rate of 41.02%.

More impressively, Rafael Nadal has won a mammoth 459 out of 501 claycourt matches on the ATP tour. That gives the Mallorcan a win-loss ratio of 91.61%, which is more than Bjorn Borg's figure of 86.1%.

Roger Federer, meanwhile, has won a mere 76.1% of his matches on clay, while Novak Djokovic's win rate is close to 80%.