Andy Murray explained what he found so difficult about playing Rafael Nadal on clay.
The Spaniard is regarded by many as the greatest to ever play on the dirt and his numerous titles and records speak for themselves.
There is no record greater than the 14 titles he has won at the French Open and it remains to be seen if the 37-year-old can increase this staggering tally.
He defeated Murray along the way to winning several of those championships and it has always been a monumental challenge beating the 22-time Grand Slam champion on his favourite surface.
What did Andy Murray say about playing Rafael Nadal on clay?
Murray spoke about the challenges of playing Nadal on clay while looking back at one of their greatest rallies on the ATP Tour’s YouTube channel. It was taken from their 2014 Italian Open quarter-final early in the final set.
The Brit brought Nadal to the net who flicked the ball back behind Murray, who managed to produce a winner from the most unlikely position.
Murray went on to lose the match 1-6 6-3 7-5 but this point optimised how he never gives up on points and did not back down from the challenge of facing Nadal on clay. He went on to describe what it is like taking on arguably the biggest challenge in tennis.
“Rafa on the clay was never an easy one. His movement on the clay is unbelievable and he is always making you play one more shot,” Murray said.
“The position that he returns from and the way that he hits the ball sometimes it kind of baits you into going for a little bit more than you need to.
“If you go on the court with that mentality it’s easy to rush to try and finish the points or to overplay. You need to try and make good decisions and not allow him to sort of dictate all of the time.”
How many times did Andy Murray defeat Rafael Nadal?
Of the 24 times they played one another, Murray claimed seven victories over Nadal. After losing his first five matches to the Mallorca native, Murray bounced back to claim victories at the 2008 US Open and the 2009 Rotterdam final.
In 2010, Murray claimed another pair of wins over Nadal, first at the Australian Open when the Spaniard retired midway through the match due to injury, and the 2010 Canadian Masters semi-final.
Murray then recorded an impressive win over Nadal in the Tokyo Open final, where he did not lose a game in the final set.
His final two victories over Nadal were the most surprising, as both came on clay. In 2015 Murray dropped just five games as he claimed the Madrid Open title.
He secured another straight sets win over Nadal in the Spanish capital the following year, which was their final meeting.
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