By Raymond Lee | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, October 15, 2024

 

King of Clay Rafael Nadal may not be GOAT, but he is the most amazing tennis player of all time. Tennis historian Raymond Lee explains.

Photo credit: Getty for MGM Resorts International

It’s funny how the years just pass like a blink of an eye.

In my mind’s eye, Rafael Nadal is still a teen or in his early twenties battling Roger Federer in the finals of many important tournaments.

More: Rafael Nadal Announces Retirement from Tennis

Toni Nadal: Rafa Wanted One More Good Clay Season

All of a sudden, Rafa’s retiring!

How can that possibly be? Didn’t he just start playing?

Where’s Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to battle him in big tournaments?



When Nadal first started making a name for himself as a top player, Roger Federer was the King of Tennis. There really was no one really close to him.

It actually was a bit boring to see Federer polish off each opponent with ridiculous ease. He really did not seem to have any rivals. It seemed like Federer could do anything and hit any shot he wanted at the appropriate time. Federer had no rival to help define him.

Then, all of a sudden, this teenager from Mallorca with the big mop of hair and an even bigger forehand played Federer in the 2004 Miami Open. Yes, many thought this kid had great potential but no one expected him to win that day against a player some were already calling the Greatest of All Time.

Nadal won that day in straight sets 6-3 6-3. In watching that match in hindsight, it seemed to me that Federer was shocked at the shots this young tennis whippersnapper could pull off. Who wouldn’t be? It turned out that Federer would see so many similar types of shots coming at him from Nadal over the next 15 years. I don’t think those amazing shots surprised him anymore. Many of the shots Nadal got to and hit for winners would be outright winners against virtually anyone else.

The next year in the Miami Open final, Federer recovered from a two-set deficit to defeat Nadal in five sets. My great departed friend Michael told me it was the finest match he had ever seen! Michael has seen many great players and matches over his many decades of watching tennis. Nadal and Federer would even play matches of higher quality than that 2005 Miami Open final.

Nadal was a great player even at a young age. His lefty forehand was tremendous. The RPMs he put on his forehand especially changed the way tennis was played! He had controlled power and topspin from a very young age. Nadal’s footwork is unbelievable. Some may be a bit faster but Nadal’s range on the tennis court and his ability to hit winners on the run were top level.

Rafa, from what I’ve seen over the years, continued to work on his game to improve it. He improved his lefty serve. He improved his volley so much that many called him the best volleyer in the game. Nadal’s overhead was very conclusive. And he improved his already strong backhand.

Is Nadal’s forehand the greatest in the history of tennis?

Possibly.

There are of course other candidates like Vines, Perry, Tilden, Segura, Kramer, Borg, Lendl, del Potro and Federer but clearly Nadal’s is up there with any forehand in history.

Many thought his extremely physical athletic style wouldn’t allow him to last long on the ATP tour. He confounded those critics by lasting for over 20 years playing at the highest level.

The rivalries Nadal had with Federer, Djokovic and Murray seemed to raise tennis to another level. Murray unfortunately was injured a number of years ago and never could regain his former greatness. Nadal, despite the great number of injuries in his career, was able to maintain a level of play that was rarely reached.



Djokovic, as you might expect, is the all-time leader in Total ATP Lifetime Points and average ATP adjusted points per tournament. Nadal, however, is second in average ATP adjusted points per tournament. My figures are that of the old ATP system and has not been adjusted to the new system in 2024 but it’s a certainty that Nadal will still be second in Average ATP Adjusted Points per tournament by a clear percentage margin over Federer who is third in the Open Era.

Nadal has won 22 majors in his career in 68 attempts for a percentage of 32.35. Included in that total is 14 French Open titles. Bjorn Borg is a distant second with 6 French Opens in 8 attempts.

Nadal’s record at the French is 112-4 and he has won the French 14 times in 19 attempts. Rafa had to withdraw from the 2016 French Open prior to the third round due to a wrist injury. When a person watches Nadal playing at his normal level on clay, you wonder how he even lost 4 matches at the French Open.

Often in my articles I try to define the greatness of a player logically through statistics. I often say that numbers don’t lie.

Statistically of course Nadal is one of the greatest in Tennis History, not just the Open Era. Still, to define Nadal simply by mere statistics doesn’t describe the true nature of his genius. It doesn’t explain the effort he put into the game and the brilliant shots he could pull out when the pressure was the greatest.

In many ways I think of Rafael Nadal as the tennis version of Indiana Jones. Nadal’s forehand, as I have mentioned, is perhaps his best weapon. It is often described as a buggy whip forehand. Indiana Jones is of course known for his whip.

Like Indiana Jones, Nadal seems to put incredible drama and thrills into the matches that he plays.

A great example of this was the 2009 Australian Open semifinal and final. His entire career often seemed like an Indiana Jones adventure.

Nadal played Fernando Verdasco in that 2009 Australian Open semifinal and won an unbelievable match in five sets. That match lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes! Even a young Nadal at age 22 was exhausted by that match.

The opponent in the final was, of course, the player who seemed to have a reserved spot in a major’s final those days, Roger Federer.

Just hours before the match, Nadal told his coach, Uncle Toni Nadal, “I can't run.”

Federer was at his physical peak at age 27. All the odds seemed stacked against Nadal.

Well, if Rafa is a version of Indiana Jones in this adventure I think you can guess what happened! Of course Nadal won in five sets in what I still believe is the best match Federer and Nadal ever played against each other.

One point that stands out even for a Nadal/Federer rally is the point at about the 3 hour and 46-minute mark of the video below. Just an astounding rally. It’s perhaps the best rally they have ever had and that is saying a lot!

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Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the dramatic 2008 Wimbledon Final between Nadal and Federer. Nadal was considered by many as the favorite in the final, having defeated Federer easily in straight sets at Roland Garros a few weeks before.

Nadal won the first two sets 6-4 6-4 but Federer rallied to win the next two sets in tiebreakers which set the stage for the dramatic final set.

The match of course was extremely long with several rain delays. Federer looked like he may very well complete his comeback in the match when he led Nadal by one game several times in the fifth set. Nadal had to hold his serve three times at 4-5, 5-6 and 6-7 just to survive.

Of course he held and then broke Federer’s serve to lead 8-7 before holding serve to win a match that many have called the Greatest of All Time 9-7 in the fifth.



Nadal’s greatest rival, at least in terms of matches played, is who else, Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic leads the most prolific rivalry in ATP history at 31 to 29 although Nadal leads in the matches played in the majors by 11 matches to 7. This is perhaps skewered by Djokovic playing 10 of these matches against Nadal at the French Open, where Nadal is virtually unbeatable. Nadal leads 8-2 at the French Open.

These two also have played some of the great all-time matches. That is expected considering that these are two players who have often been called the GOAT.

Here’s their great match at the 2013 French Open in the semifinals.



Nadal started out dominating the rivalry and led at one point by a match score of 14 to 4. However in 2011 the tide began to change and Djokovic won all 6 matches that they played that year.

Nadal leads the rivalry on clay by 20 to 9. Djokovic leads on hard courts 20 to 7. They are tied at 2 on grass. Nadal leads the meetings at the majors 11 to 7 as I wrote before.

While Djokovic leads the rivalry 31 to 29, I almost wouldn’t count the last match they played at the recent Olympics because of Nadal’s injury.

All great players seem to be able to pull out match victories when all seems hopeless but Nadal seems almost in a class by himself at times for his ability to win when no believes he has a chance. I already written about his unbelievable final match against Federer in the 2009 Australian Open Final but I believe Rafa topped himself when he played the Australian Open in 2022, at least for the drama of the match.

I took much of the following few paragraphs from a previous article I wrote discussing the 2022 ATP season with a few additional comments.

The Miracle in Melbourne

Before the 2022 Australian Open started, there was one remaining member of the Big 3 who entered the tournament.

That was Rafael Nadal, who was recovering from a major injury.

It was thought by some, even Nadal that he may never play again prior to entering the Australian. For Rafael Nadal to possibly win the 2022 Australian seemed to be impossible.

As the tournament progressed and Nadal won a few rounds, you thought perhaps he has an outside chance, but it still seemed improbable.

Still Nadal is Nadal and somehow, he reached the final against Daniil Medvedev who was essentially the top seed after Djokovic was not allowed to play.

After getting overwhelmed in the first set, you think to yourself that he has to win the second set in order to win! Rafa led the second set only to lose it in a tiebreaker. The task now against a younger powerful opponent again seemed impossible.

How can even the great Nadal win three straight set against a top opponent like Medvedev!?

So naturally and in hindsight Nadal of course wins the next two sets. Destiny awaits.

Nadal broke serve at 2 all in the fifth set with his patented down the line topspin forehand winner to lead 3-2. The ovation for Nadal after that shot was just amazing. It was at around the 4:23 and 50 second mark of the video link of the match that I will attach.

The announcer said, “That was the best shot he has ever hit!” which I thought was a bit of an overstatement. Nevertheless it was a great shot considering the heat of the moment. Nadal has hit thousands of great shots! What the announcer said was appropriate because it fit the emotional and dramatic significance of that shot. The ovation for Rafa and the feelings of the crowd rooting for him were indescribable.

Hitting great shots under pressure, however, is one of the many things that makes Rafael Nadal the great player that he is. Nadal held in a long deuce game to lead 4-2 but of course you couldn’t have an easy win in the fifth. Destiny and the movie like drama of the moment wouldn’t permit it.

Medvedev held to 3-4 and Nadal held serve to 5-3, one game away from one of his greatest victories! Medvedev held at 30 to reach 4-5. Nadal now served for the match.

Of course, under pressure Medvedev broke at 30 with some great shots to tie the match at 5 all in the fifth.

But you know that with Nadal in the fifth, a true dramatic finish meant that the outcome was inevitable! Or at least it seemed that way.

Nadal broke again to lead 6-5 and held at love to win his second Australian Open 7-5 in the fifth in a tournament he wasn’t even sure he could play to break the tie for the majors record at 21. He was not to be denied.

Sounds like a Hollywood movie! However no script writer would write this because the writer could never imagine this happening even in a movie! The story would seem too improbable. This is one of the cases in which reality is stranger than fiction.

In retrospect, sometimes Rafael Nadal’s entire career was so great that it was stranger than fiction.

Here's the entire match of the 2022 Australian Open Men’s Final which some called the Miracle in Melbourne.

At the end of the match, you hear the announcers saying using terms like “beyond comprehension, warrior, greatness, heart, awe, transcends tennis, more than memorable, stuff of fantasy.”

It seems like hyperbole but in this case it is not. You could feel the emotion in the crowd.



Nadal fittingly moved ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in total majors with 21 to Federer and Djokovic’s 20 with a win in this dramatic match.

As we know now in October of 2024 Nadal did win the French again in 2022 to bring his majors total to 22. Djokovic is now ahead of everyone in total majors won with 24 with perhaps more to come.

There are always arguments about who is the greatest player of all time. Many now favor Djokovic, many favor Nadal, some Federer, some Gonzalez, Vines, Kramer, Laver, Sampras and Borg. It often depends on the person’s definition of greatness taking into consideration the parameters of the time the player played.

I do believe that Rafael Nadal is the most amazing player that ever lived.

The man has had a slew of injuries over his career plus a chronic foot illness that has hurt him even at his peak. Yet despite all of this the man has a tennis record that is almost unmatched! And he has played at a level for decades almost no one has ever played at before! He played with such a unique powerful style of play.

It’s truly so hard to describe Nadal. I do think it’s safe to say that we will never have another player like Rafael Nadal. I will miss the great excitement that all of us experienced when he was about to play a match in a big tournament against a great player.

Congratulations on your retirement Rafa!

Don’t forget to come back and win the 2066 French Open when you’re 80 as I predicted.

Raymond Lee is a Tennis Now contributing writer, tennis historian and avid tennis player who lives in New York. He has written about tennis for decades serving as a contributing writer for Tennis Week Magazine and TennisWeek.com.

Check out Raymond Lee's Articles: Star Turns: Top Tournament Performances in Tennis History, One for One: Who is the GOAT for One Match? Celebrating 50th Anniversary of John Newcombe's 1973 US Open Win, Why Novak Djokovic Can Win 30 Slams and Holy Grail: Why Winning the Calendar Grand Slam is Toughest Task in Sport and The Greatest Men Clay-Court Champions Of All Time