Rafael Nadal is referred to as the “King of Clay” because he is widely regarded as the greatest claycourt player of all time. With 62 titles won on hard courts, the 35-year-old holds the ATP record, 13 more than Guillermo Vilas, who is in second position.
His collection of trophies includes 26 ATP Masters 1000 titles and 13 Roland Garros victories (11 in Monte-Carlo, 10 in Rome, four in Madrid and one in Hamburg). On his preferred surface, the great Spaniard has an astounding 465-43 (91.5%) lifetime record.
Although he appears to be unbeatable, the Spaniard has had a few opponents who managed to defeat him. Here are three instances in which the 21-time Major winner was defeated in a set. Following his loss to Gaudio in Argentina, Nadal won consecutive claycourt matches in February in Costa do Sauipe and Acapulco. After that, he lost to Igor Andreev in the quarterfinals of the Valencia Clay Open in April after losing in a thrilling five-set final at the Miami Masters (hardcourt) in March.
The Spaniard maintained his excellent form into the 2005 Monte-Carlo Masters, reaching the final with just one set defeat (in his semifinal win over Richard Gasquet). The World No. 9 and reigning Monte-Carlo winner Guillermo Coria faced the 18-year-old in the final. The then World No. 17 dropped just four games en route to taking the first two sets, before the sixth-seeded Argentine responded by bageling the Spaniard in the third.
Nadal edged a tight fourth set against the 2004 Roland Garros finalist to claim his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown.
Starting with his opening win in his 2005 Monte-Carlo title run, Nadal won a men’s record of 81 consecutive claycourt matches going into the 2007 Hamburg Masters final. The streak included five victories against his great rival and then World No. 1 Roger Federer, who he faced in the Hamburg title match.
The No. 2 seed’s imperious run on the surface, and against his Swiss contemporary, looked set to continue as he took the opening set 6-2. The top seed, however, reacted strongly by winning the second set by the same scoreline to level the final.
Federer then stormed through the deciding set 6-0 to secure his first-ever triumph on clay against the then 20-year-old.
