Why is Rafael Nadal unbeatable at the Roland Garros?

Past Forward to 1999

Thinking about this one, my mind went digging into the past before reminding me of a special match played by Andre Agassi at the Roland Garros.

Playing against Andriy Medvedev in the final, Agassi was down two sets to nil before rain stopped play. When play resumed, he upped his game and won the last three sets to complete a remarkable win.

Later the teary-eyed man was seen blowing kisses to spectators, something which he would later repeat after every win.

On that day Agassi created history and achieved something which many great players of his era failed to achieve – a Career Slam. He was the fifth man overall to do it.

And I was left thinking he was one of the best to have played the game.

 

Fast Forward to 2005

         

Enter Rafael Nadal!!

A few years later Nadal appeared and made the red clay courts of the Roland Garros his own.

And below has been the norm at the Roland Garros since that tournament in which he was playing for the first time.

Nadal steps onto the court, starts dominating from the first round, devours some in straight sets… meets Federer to decimate him… meets Djokovic and outruns him easily.

No surprises… only yawns!

Nadal, I begin to think can sleep walk at the Roland Garros and can still win!

For his twelve titles so far, a solitary Agassi win which I thought was history appears a blur!

How does he do it?

Courts at the Roland Garros are prepared using red brick dust on top of layers of gravels, coal residue and limestone. The surface is toughened by intense watering during the tournaments. The surface slows the ball down making it difficult for players who employ a powerful first serve and approach the net (serve and volley) in the quest to surprise their opponent.

The pace suits Nadal as he is willing to play a physical game from the back of the court, laden with long rallies to wear his opponents down. The fierce athleticism and the heaps of stamina help him immensely. He is a master at inducing top spin on the ball and since he is a lefty, he plays some unplayable returns at impossible angles.

Also, he is a player who would go after the ball to the farthest corner of the court. A combination of various factors like the physical game he plays, the skills he possesses and a won’t-give-an-inch attitude makes him invincible on clay.

Last but not the least he tends to have psychological advantage over his opponents.

With his powerful biceps emerging from the sleeveless shirt, the curling long hair, the stylish bandana and a powerful grunt between the volleys also play an important role in terrifying his opponents.

 

Why does GOAT Roger Federer appear a lesser mortal at the Roland Garros?

 

Roger Federer’s game is heavily reliant on his power packed first serve which gives him an advantage over his opponents on grass courts and hard courts but the surface in Paris slows down his serves.

Federer is a naturally gifted player but doesn’t possess a physical game like Nadal and so has won this tournament only once so far.

He prefers playing with a sliced backhand to counter the powerful forehand shots of someone like Nadal. The advantage of using this strategy is lost on clay courts where the ball bounces higher and slower.

The surface is also known to help players who make effective us of drop shots - a strategy which helped Federer complete his Career Slam after winning the French open in 2009 against Robin Soderling.

 

What about other good players of the past?

There are many big names who have succumbed at the Roland Garros.

The foremost name that comes to my mind is the legendary Pete Sampras. He won fourteen Grand Slams but failed to register even a single title here. His best performance was the quarter final loss in 1996 when he was playing the best tennis of his career.

The French Open trophy also eluded many of Agassi’s contemporaries like Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg from whom fans expected big things.

 

Who's next?

There are many almost-there’s waiting to topple the big three.

There’s Wawrinka, Thiem, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Zverev et al… the generation next… waiting for a chance to sneak in.

I think it’s a matter of time before they start winning regularly.

When… is the question?

No one’s in a hurry though… the big three have made us fall in love with the game of Tennis all over again.