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Beating Rafael Nadal at the French Open is the impossible task
When a fatigued David Ferrer managed to win just five games in his French Open semi-final loss to Rafael Nadal (37) in 2012, he acknowledged the daunting nature of the task. “Winning a match against Rafa at Roland Garros is almost impossible,” a bewildered Ferrer admitted as he left Court Philippe Chatrier.
Ferrer could find little consolation in the fact that he won one more game than Roger Federer did in the 2008 final against Nadal.
On the clay courts of Roland Garros, few have come close to challenging Nadal.
Since his stunning debut title in Paris in 2005, Nadal has amassed 14 titles, winning 112 matches and losing just three.
Two of those defeats were against Novak Djokovic — in the quarter-finals in 2015 and the semi-finals in 2021.
Sweden’s Robin Soderling was the first to dent Nadal’s record in 2009. Nadal avenged that last-16 loss a year later in the final.
The only other time Nadal was stopped in Paris was in 2016 when a wrist injury forced him to withdraw after the second round.
In 2005, Nadal won the French Open on his first attempt, just two days past his 19th birthday.
He will turn 38 a week from Monday, though recent injuries might disrupt his dream of a farewell performance in the French capital.
When Nadal claimed his 14th French Open title in 2022, he became the oldest champion at 36.
This feat was accomplished despite requiring daily painkilling injections to numb crippling pain in his foot.
Nadal made his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon as a raw 17-year-old in 2003, but it was his first appearance in Paris that truly captivated fans.
His 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 victory in the final against the unheralded Mariano Puerta of Argentina made him the first man since Mats Wilander 23 years earlier to win in Paris at the first attempt.
‘Like a War’
In 2005, Nadal won 11 titles, eight of them on clay, including the prestigious Masters tournaments in Monte Carlo and Rome.
Entering Paris, he was on a 17-match win streak and was drawn to face Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller in the first round.
“I remember that I was a little sad about the draw,” Burgsmuller, ranked 96th at the time, told USA Today in 2015.
“Everyone was talking about him. Everyone knew that he would be very, very good.”
Nadal went on to claim the French Open title for the next three years, defeating Federer in the final on each occasion.
In the 2008 championship match, Nadal allowed his great Swiss rival just four games.
That year, he didn’t drop a set. His compatriots Fernando Verdasco and Nicolas Almagro, both top 25 players, were allowed just three games each in their last-16 and quarter-final thrashings.
In 2017 and 2020, Nadal again won the title without dropping a set.
Amazingly, in his 115 matches at Roland Garros, Nadal has been pushed to five sets only three times. He won all three.
“With Rafa on clay in best of five, it’s like a war,” said Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya.
John McEnroe, who had legendary battles with six-time Roland Garros champion Bjorn Borg, was able to compare eras.
“I know when Borg played in my day he was like the human backboard,” said McEnroe.
“He was faster than everyone, fitter than everyone, and you couldn’t get a ball past the guy.
“I saw guys get exhausted in the first set, like the best clay court players in the world. It’s the same thing when you play Nadal. This guy, he comes to play every match. This is a guy that just doesn’t give it away.”
