Was there a fundamental misunderstanding of Rafael Nadal’s all-surface potential early in his iconic career?
The Spaniard himself believes so. Nadal, who retired in November as a 92-time tour-level champion, thinks that his early success on clay warped others’ expectations of him on faster surfaces.
“Because I started winning a lot on clay, people started thinking I was a clay-court player,” Nadal told his fellow former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Andy Roddick on the Served podcast. “But the truth is, of course my game adapted well to the clay, but I loved playing on fast courts… I finished my career winning a couple of US Opens [late on], but my second-best surface was grass.”
Rafael Nadal in action en route to the title at 2010 Wimbledon. Photo Credit: Stefan Wermuth-Pool/Getty Images
Nadal won a record 14 of his 22 major titles on the clay at Roland Garros, while on hard courts he won twice at the Australian Open and four times at the US Open. He also lifted the trophy twice in 15 appearances at Wimbledon, and the Spaniard never doubted he would have success on grass despite making many of his early title breakthroughs on slower surfaces.
“I played the Wimbledon final in 2006, so it’s not like it took me five years to play well on grass,” said Nadal, whose breakout season came in 2005, when he won 11 tour-level trophies as an 18-year-old. “I lost in the second round in 2005 against Gilles Muller. In 2004, I couldn’t play because I was injured, but in 2003 I beat [future Wimbledon semi-finalist] Mario Ancic already in the first round. So my game adapted well to all surfaces.”
Nadal revealed to Roddick that his progress on grass was crucially hampered in the middle of his career by problems with his knees.
“I was in the Wimbledon final in 2006, 2007, won it in 2008, in 2009 I was not able to play," explained Nadal. "Then I won in 2010 and played the final in 2011, so not counting 2009, I played five finals in a row. Then arrived a point when I was not able to play on grass for many years. My knees were not holding, I was not able to slow down… After that, 2012 to 2016, my knees were not good enough to play on grass. Then I recovered well in my knees and started playing well on grass again.
“For me it was painful, because I felt that my chances were bigger, if I was healthy enough, on grass than hard. Honestly, I preferred to play against Novak [Djokovic] on grass than on hard.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Roddick also asked his fellow ATP No. 1 Club member Nadal questions on a variety of other topics, including his role at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony and the work done by the Rafa Nadal Foundation.
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