Holger Rune shares who he thinks is the second best clay court player on tour after Rafael Nadal

Follow us on Google Discover

Holger Rune believes Novak Djokovic’s clay court statistics would be far greater if it weren’t for Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard is questionably the best player to compete on the dirt as his dominance over the European spring illustrates.

He is double digit figures for titles won in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros, and he is the only player to achieve this number at four different tournaments.

Nadal defeated Djokovic to win a portion of those events and had the 22-time Grand Slam winner not been around, Rune thinks the World number One would be praised more for his clay court skills.

What did Holger Rune say about Novak Djokovic on clay?

Despite the brilliance of Nadal on clay, Djokovic has enjoyed plenty of success on the gruelling surface. He has captured 19 clay court titles, three of which have come at the French Open.

Rune, 21, who won his only clay court meeting with Djokovic at the 2023 Italian Open, praised Djokovic for what he accomplished on clay despite battling the dominant Nadal.

“I think if Rafa wasn’t here, Novak would be the best clay court player. He has won three French Opens, which is amazing and he made tons of finals against Rafa,” Rune said.

“It takes him a little longer to get to his best level on the clay than other surfaces. But he is a champion and he always finds his best level when it matters. Honestly, you can never count him out. I wouldn’t be surprised if he found his best level again here.”

What is Novak Djokovic’s record against Rafael Nadal on clay?

From their 59 matches against one another, 28 have been played on clay.

Djokovic has won just eight, with his last victory over Nadal on the dirt coming in 2021 in the Roland Garros semi-finals.

In fact the Serbian is the only player to have more than one victory over Nadal at the French Open. His first came in 2015, six years after Robin Soderling became the first person to beat Nadal on the Parisian clay.

In their most recent clay court meeting, Nadal completed a four set victory over Djokovic in the 2022 French Open quarter-finals, before going onto win his 22nd major and 14th at Roland Garros.