10 years ago, Rafael Nadal won his 4th French Open, and did so in a run that was almost comical in its ease. He beat three-time slam quarterfinalist Jarkko Nieminen 6-1 6-3 6-1 in the third round. Then two-time slam Semifinalist Fernando Verdasco 6-1 6-0 6-2 in the round of 16. He then schooled four time slam quarterfinalist Nicolas Almagro 6-1 6-1 6-1 in the quarters. Finally, he got "pushed" in the semis by a man named Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-2 7-6. he ended his campaign humiliating Roger Federer 6-1 6-0 6-3. He ran away with the French Open. At that point, we all realized he was truly the best Clay Court player ever. The only question would be would his grinding, matador style burn him too quickly, and that chances were he would burn out at some point.
10 years later, Rafael Nadal is #1 in the world, and not only that, he's set do make a mockery of the clay court season again. He won his 11th Monaco Masters series title, winning all 10 sets he's played (he's won 38 striaght sets on clay - including all 21 he played in last year's French Open). The closest anyone got to him was 6-4. He embarrased multiple top players. He;s set to do the same at Barcelona - he's going for his 11th title there too. He'll likely add a trifecta of 11th titles in six weeks at the French Open. There is no real end in sight.
Rafael Nadal on clay is not real. The most incredible part is that he was the best clay court player we've ever seen twelve years ago, changed a lot of his game, and is still the best clay court player, if not an even better one. A lot has been mentioned about his transition to being more of an all court player, one that has afforded him six slams on non-clay surfaces (and seven more finals). He hits harder, plays more offensive, doesn't gallop around the court like some horse or jackrabbit, running down balls and attempting impossible shots. Doesn't matter. He's still humorously better than anyone else on clay.
It is so incredible that he is still doing this when he is about to turn 32. The one failing of Rafa in his prime was always that the way he played would inevitably lead to an early demise. And to some degree that happened. Following his 2014 French Open win, he spent a good two years either injured and missing, or hurt and a shell of his former self. He openly struggled with confidence, dropping five-setters left and right against worse players. He lost easily to Novak Djokovic at the 2015 French Open. Hard to remember that ever happened - in large part to what's become of both players.
Nadal is not only better now than he was three years ago, he's the last one left (robot Federer aside), He always seeemed more elderly than the one year that separates him with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, but given the latter two's injury concerns, and Rafa turning aside 'next-gen' players like small speed-bumps in his path, its weird to think of Nadal as the older one.
There has never been a marriage of surface to player like this. Forget the 11 wins at Monaco, or the 10 at Barcelona and the French Open; or the fact that he's had five different instances of winning 30+ straight sets on clay, three times winning the French without dropping a set. Even if you expand past tennis, it is hard to find a case in a major sport of a player so thoroughly dominating one aspect of the sport - the closest in recent years seems to be Cristiano in the Champions League, but we can have that comparison if CR7 is doing this in 2025.
At some point this will end. Though you do get the sense Rafa can do a reverse Federer and only play the Clay Season and succeed until he's 38. When he does, we'll probably lose all perspective on what a clay court specialist is like. We'll never know again, because Rafa has completely skewed that perception.
Watching Nadal on clay has been one of the sports joys of my life. The way he effortlessly slides on that surface. The way he does the impossible. The way he's used every inch of Court Philippe Chatrier to hit passing shots. The way he still seems enthralled with it all. These are his courts - literally in the case of the Barcelona tournament that named their main court after Nadal last year. This is his time. For someone who publicly admitted struggling with confidence, he suffers no shortage on clay recently, having joy in his preoardained romps.
Writing this may come back to haunt me. It will only take one bad day, or one tweak of a hip or wrist (like the one that knocked him out of the 2016 French open after dominating the first few rounds) to end his run at the French Open. But it is more about Nadal still doing this ten years later, still managing to own clay thirteen years into his career as a Top-2 player. Still at #1, and still at home on the red dirt.
