Clay Court Royalty: Why Roland-Garros Belongs to the Few
The French Open is the only Grand Slam played on clay, making it the most distinctive major on the tennis calendar. It’s also a surface that tends to lend itself to domination by a single player, given its unique demands. In other words, only a select few manage to crack the Da Vinci Code of Roland-Garros — and when they do, others can be locked out for a generation.
The King of Clay
There is no better example of this trend than Rafa Nadal, who won a record 14 French Open titles. Of course, that domination has finally come to an end, with Father Time proving to be the one opponent the Spaniard couldn’t beat on clay. It’s undoubtedly the end of an era when you consider that, for the first time since 2005, the latest tennis betting odds for Roland-Garros won’t feature Nadal.
Instead, it’s Novak Djokovic who will fly the flag for the elder statesmen, with the Serb priced at 11/2 in the latest French Open betting markets. Despite being in the twilight of his career, you wouldn’t put it past Djokovic — the most decorated player of the Open Era with 24 Grand Slam titles — to mount another deep run.
Breaking. (Records)#RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/V2E71sfI7l
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) April 12, 2024
However, to the point at hand — and despite this generational brilliance, not to mention his claim as the greatest tennis player of all time — Djokovic has only three Roland-Garros titles to his name. Put another way, Nadal was able to enjoy a level of superiority on clay that even Djokovic, for all his mastery, couldn’t match.
The Spaniard would eventually retire, having played 116 matches at the French Open, winning 112 of them and losing just four: no one understood the quirks of clay better than Nadal. The King of Clay, indeed.
Merci @rolandgarros for this amazing experience. 12!! Still can’t believe it pic.twitter.com/iNj8Me4iRJ
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 9, 2019
The truth is that for many professionals, the slower ball speed, relentless spin, and the inability to bully opponents from the baseline with booming serves meant that Roland-Garros was more of a sightseeing trip to Paris than a realistic shot at a Grand Slam. For Nadal, it was always an opportunity to make history whenever he took to the court of Stade Roland-Garros.
History Repeating
Even with Nadal now retired, we’re beginning to see a similar level of clay-court dominance emerge on the women’s side as the same player, Iga ?wi?tek, has won four of the last five editions of the French Open — a striking parallel to what came before.
As touched on, once a player gets their eye in on the crumbling, devilish clay courts of Roland-Garros, they can rack up numbers that simply can’t be matched at any other Grand Slam.
Records Are There to Be Broken
One of the many tributes paid to Nadal after his decision to retire was that his efforts at the French Open would never be matched again. That might be true — there are a combination of factors that go into winning a Grand Slam, and it’s not just physical; the psychological battle is just as important.
However, it’s also true that the French Open is a muscle-memory Grand Slam, and Nadal’s numbers could possibly be surpassed in the next two decades.
