Rafael Nadal enjoyed a phenomenal career, with the Spaniard clinching much of his success on clay courts.
Nadal is the toughest opponent Sebastian Korda has played in his career, with the former having decided to hang up his racket late last year.
Former ATP number one Nadal retired with 22 Grand Slam titles to his name, having also lost eight Grand Slam finals.
Alex de Minaur thinks bigger hitters are more prevalent since the retirement of Nadal, who won 92 ATP titles in total.
A stunning 14 of those titles came on the clay courts of the French Open, which is a record that is unlikely to be beaten anytime soon.
Three ATP players who can fly on clay without Rafael Nadal
There are, however, a handful of players who could at least impress on the surface in 2025 as the clay season gets underway.
Such potential comes given their form on clay in recent years, but also because of the absence of legendary figure Nadal.
Having just reached the Bucharest Open final, Sebastian Baez is certainly on that list, with the Argentine joining Stefanos Tsitsipas on 10 clay-court finals since 2020, as per OptaAce.
But there is also the danger of Carlos Alcaraz, who can absolutely take over from his compatriot on clay, with 12 such finals reached.
Casper Ruud is, however, undoubtedly the ATP player to watch on the surface, having reached 12 ATP finals on clay since 2020.
What is Rafael Nadal’s French Open final record?
Even the likes of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer had difficulty on hard and grass courts respectively, but that wasn’t the case for Nadal on clay.
He played 14 French Open finals during his career, winning all 14 and overcoming many legendary figures in the process.
| Year | Result | Opponent | Score |
| 2005 | Win | Mariano Puerta | 6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5 |
| 2006 | Win | Roger Federer | 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4) |
| 2007 | Win | Roger Federer | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| 2008 | Win | Roger Federer | 6–1, 6–3, 6–0 |
| 2010 | Win | Robin Soderling | 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 2011 | Win | Roger Federer | 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1 |
| 2012 | Win | Novak Djokovic | 6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5 |
| 2013 | Win | David Ferrer | 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 |
| 2014 | Win | Novak Djokovic | 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 2017 | Win | Stan Wawrinka | 6–2, 6–3, 6–1 |
| 2018 | Win | Dominic Thiem | 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 2019 | Win | Dominic Thiem | 6–3, 5–7, 6–1, 6–1 |
| 2020 | Win | Novak Djokovic | 6–0, 6–2, 7–5 |
| 2022 | Win | Casper Ruud | 6–3, 6–3, 6–0 |
The Spaniard may have secured wins on all three surfaces in Melbourne, but it was in Paris where his true talents particularly came to light.
Ruud was on the receiving end of his final win there and final Grand Slam success in 2022, with the Norwegian ace suffering the same fate against Djokovic a year later.
But has already been successful on clay in 2025, with Ruud having just emerged victorious at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in Nimes.
He now has 14 UTS match wins, tied with Andrey Rublev for the most-ever, having beaten Tomas Machac at the iconic Arena de Nimes.
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