Top Five Clay Court Players of All Time

With the French Open just around the corner, we take this opportunity to look at some of tennis’ greatest clay-court players of all time. With clay being considered the most physically demanding surface to play on, a combination of skill, fitness, strength and speed are key to all of these players’ successes.

We take a look at the greatest clay-court players below.

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5) Novak Djokovic

As arguably the greatest player of all time, Novak Djokovic would likely make it in to a top five list on every surface. The Serb, playing in a clay era dominated by Rafael Nadal, has still commendably managed to win 18 clay court titles.

The majority of his success on clay has come in ATP 1000 tournaments with the bulk of those in Rome. The current World Number One has six Italian Open titles, as well as three at the Madrid Open, and two in the Monte-Carlo masters.

With two French Open wins in an era when they were not so easy to come by, and an 80% career win-rate on clay, he is certainly worthy of his place on this list.

4) Gustavo Kuerten

Gustavo Kuerten is not necessarily a household name but in his prime he was an incredible clay court player. Kuerten made his mark in the early 2000’s at the French Open.

The Brazilian grew up playing on red clay in his home country, an upbringing which prepared him for a spell of success at the French Open in which he won three titles in five years, making him arguably the last really dominant player at the tournament before Rafael Nadal.

Kuerten also won the Monte-Carlo masters twice, with clay-court wins in Rome and Hamburg also coming on the ATP Masters series. The Brazilian finished his career with an impressive 70% win-rate on clay.

3) Ivan Lendl

Ivan Lendl was the master of consistency at the French Open as he reached the final five times, winning it three times, in a seven-year run between 1981 and 1987.

Lendl has the joint-third most titles at the French Open in the Open era and won two of them back-to-back in 1986 and 1987. The Czech player also won an Italian and Hamburg Open in these years, maintaining his dominance on clay.

In total, Lendl won 28 titles on clay in his illustrious career, and finished his career with a win rate of 81% on the surface, the third highest on our list

2) Björn Borg

Björn Borg was the first player to truly epitomise the nature of clay court tennis, with his incredible fitness, speed and power he was physically dominant in his era, and that showed in his performances at the French Open.

Borg was incredibly dominant at the tournament, entering seven times between 1974 and 1981, picking up six of the seven titles with a 96% win-rate, losing just two of his 51 matches on the Paris clay.

The Swede also take his clay talents elsewhere, winning a total of 32 clay-court titles in his career. In just three attempts Borg won two titles at the Italian Open as well as three titles at the Monte-Carlo Masters, finishing his career with a win-rate of just over 86% on clay.

1) Rafael Nadal

You don’t get given the nickname ‘The King of Clay’ for nothing, but Rafael Nadal has certainly proven to be worthy of the title, with his record making him by far the most dominant clay court player in the history of tennis.

Nadal has won a record 14 French Open titles, and he hasn’t necessarily played his final tournament yet. The Spaniard’s dominance at the French Open has so far spanned from his first win in 2005 to his most recent in 2022. Nadal has entered the French Open 18 times, with a 100% win-rate in 14 finals, and a record of 112 wins, 3 losses and one withdrawal from the tournament, making it a freak occurrence that someone else should lift the trophy for the last 18 years.

Nadal has set multiple records on the clay throughout his career. He is the only player to have won the clay slam, winning at Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, and the French Open in a calendar year in 2010. He also broke records which had stood since 1877, winning 26 clay court titles without losing a set, as well as having 10 successful title defences at the same major.

In total, Nadal has picked up a whopping 63 career titles on clay, with 11 of those coming at the Monte-Carlo Masters where he won eight years in a row from 2005-2012. Nadal has also hit double figures at the Italian Open with 10 titles between 2005 and 2021. Nadal’s clay court career is the most impressive display of dominance on a single surface, with the Spaniard currently having a 91% win-rate and a record of 475 wins to 45 losses on clay.