Rafael Nadal is going down as one of the greatest tennis players in history after announcing his retirement.
The 38-year-old will hang up his racket after November’s Davis cup finals, which will be held in the city of Malaga, in his home country of Spain.
Throughout his illustrious career, Nadal achieved success on each of the surfaces, but his achievements on clay stand out above the rest.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion dominated on the surface in a way no other player has and broke numerous records, some of which may never be surpassed.
One of these records is the number of times he has won a set 6-0 on clay. Rafael Nadal will end his career after winning a set on the dirt without losing a game against 63 players, a staggering number for the undisputed ‘King of Clay.
The Tennis Gazette will show you which players were on the receiving end of Nadal’s most ruthless displays on clay.
Roger Federer played Nadal 16 times on clay and emerged victorious on just two occasions.
But arguably his most crushing defeat came in the 2008 French Open final. This was the Swiss players’ third year in a row playing Nadal in the championship match in Paris and this time, he won just four games.
Nadal overwhelmed Federer in every department and winning the third set without losing a game was the icing on the cake for his blistering 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 performance.
Federer said this result gave Nadal a psychological advantage in their Wimbledon final two months later, when Nadal prevailed in five sets to end Federer’s five-year winning run at SW19.
In the process, Nadal won the first of his two Wimbledon titles in arguably tennis’ greatest match.
In 2020 Novak Djokovic faced Nadal for the third time in a French Open final. It was delayed until October due to the coronavirus pandemic and therefore it took place in colder and gloomier conditions.
The final was also played indoors and therefore Djokovic was given the edge. But Nadal stormed to the title which started with a 6-0 set.
His extra aggressive backhand and all-court game proved too much for Djokovic to handle, and Nadal claimed a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 win.
Nadal won his 13th French Open title and did so without dropping a set. In the process he equalled Federer’s tally of 20 Grand Slams, before surpassing his haul by winning the 2022 Australian Open and French Open titles.
Only Djokovic has defeated Nadal on clay more times than Dominic Thiem.
The Austrian has claimed four wins against the Spaniard on the dirt, but at times he was simply overwhelmed by the former World number one’s brilliance.
One of those occasions came in the 2018 Monte Carlo Masters, where he managed to win just two games in the quarter-final clash.
Nadal did not waste any time he stormed to a 6-2, 6-0 victory and went on to win his 11th and final Monte Carlo title.
Casper Ruud played exceptionally well to reach his first Grand Slam final at the 2022 French Open.
Unfortunately for the Norwegian, he was up against Nadal, who was aiming for his 14th victory at the clay-court Grand Slam and second successive major after winning the Australian Open.
The 25-year-old spoke about being intimidated by Nadal’s warm-up in the tunnel before entering the court, and he had already lost the psychological battle.
This was illustrated in the match as Ruud claimed just six games across the first two sets, and did not win any in the third set.
This was a tough campaign for Nadal who was battling a foot injury at that French Open. But he was at his blistering best in the final, and he lifted what is now the final Grand Slam win of his illustrious career.
Nadal has compiled an excellent record of 29 wins and just one defeat in singles matches at the Davis Cup.
One of those victories came against Andy Roddick in the round robin stage of the 2008 Davis Cup.
Nadal recorded his fourth win over the 2003 US Open winner by a 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 scoreline as Spain went on to win the tournament for a third time.
16 years later, Nadal will return to the Davis Cup to end his illustrious career in front of his home fans in Malaga, where Spain are aiming to win the Davis Cup for a seventh time.
Nadal has won a set 6-0 against 63 different players on clay for a total of 74 times, absolutely astounding numbers.
The first came against Juan Antonio Marin in Barcelona back in 2003, while Nadal took his most recent 6-0 set from Darwin Blanch at the Madrid Masters in 2024.
He bageled Federer on one occasion at the 2008 French Open, and Djokovic on two occasions. In fact, Nadal even took a 6-0 set off his own coach, Carlos Moya at the 2007 French Open.
This is one of the many statistics that proves just how dominant Nadal was on clay throughout his glittering career
