Tennis is a beautiful game. As a dedicated tennis fan, I think tennis is the most beautiful game ever. Be it on the grass court, clay court, or hard court, watching your favorite player smash the ball hard surely pumps up the adrenaline rush.
As my favorite tennis player is Rafael Nadal, personally, I prefer clay courts more than others. There are players with their niche courts. Like Roger Federer is considered the best player on the grass court, while Rafael Nadal is considered the best clay-court player.
Whoever is reading this article is a tennis-geek like me for sure. If you are a beginner, you might be struggling to find the right shoes for your clay-court matches. I’d suggest you go by the best clay court tennis shoes to choose the best one for you.
In this article, let’s find out the 5 best clay-court tennis players of all time. Let’s dive in.
5 best clay-court tennis players
1. Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is inarguably the best clay-court tennis player of all time. I mean, look at his clay-court stat, whoa!
Nadal is the number one clay court tennis player with a winning percentage of impressive 91.6%. His dominance in clay court tournaments is simply the best. With over 62 career titles only in clay courts, he is the unbeatable one.
And, if you go by the Grand slam titles, Rafael Nadal has won the most number of French Open, a clay-court tournament. As Roger Federer is considered the god of the grass-court, his biggest rival Rafael Nadal is considered the god of the clay court.
Nadal is still in good form, and there is a possibility that Nadal continues to win more titles in Rome, Manila, and Paris Open. There is a saying that records are meant to be broken, but the records that Nadal has put up are really hard to be broken.
2. Bjorn Borg
Long before Rafael Nadal came to take us by awe, there was this amazing and legendary player named Bjorn Borg. Long before technological advancement, Bjorn Borg has won six French Open titles.
Bjorn Borg was an all-rounder player with impressive statistics. He has won almost 96% of all the clay court matches he has played on. Borg has won 89.8% of his major matches on all courts.
Simply, you can imagine, he was considered the best clay-court tennis player before Nadal came in.
He has a 49-2 (96 percent) winning streak at the French Open, which is the second-best to Nadal, a position that nobody could ever snatch from him.
3. Mats Wilander
Personally, Mats Wilander is one of my favorite tennis players of all time. In his time, he was so effortless that most of his rivals were his fan. Mats were the master of cerebral games and groundstrokes.
And as he is mentioned in this article, Mats is one of the greatest clay-court tennis players of all time.
Mats were consistent in his games as he broke down his opponents with calculated shots and skillful gameplay. With his superb skills on clay court, he has won three French Open titles in 1982, 1985, and 1988.
The gap between his first clay-court win and the last one shows that he was a dangerous player on clay court.
4. Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl was the most prominent player of his time. He has won most of the major titles of lawn tennis in his time. Lendl is inarguably one of the best tennis players of his own time.
Lendl has won all the major grand slam titles, including the French Open win in 1986, 1987, and 1989. Mats Wilander was his toughest competitor. Despite their rivalry, Lendl emerged as one of the greatest clay-court players of all time.
Ivan Lendl holds the record of impressive 81% win in all of his clay-court matches. He has won 28 international ATP tournaments in clay court format in his playing years.
5. Gustavo Kuerten
People who grew up in the ’90s and early 2000 will fondly remember the sheer brilliance of Gustavo Kuerten. If I say he ruled the court during his time, it won’t be a wrong statement.
Before Nadal came to prominence, he was considered the greatest clay-court player of all time. In his career spanning almost one and a half decades, Gustavo has won 14 clay-court titles.
He was the beast of red clay court and won two Monte Carlo Masters, a Rome Masters, and a Hamburg Masters. Along with this, he has won 3 French Open titles in his career.
Conclusion
If you are a tennis geek like me, you will surely like this write-up. These are the best five clay court tennis players of all time. As I am a huge fan of clay courts, I have had a lot of fun writing this. I hope you enjoy reading this!
