Court Philippe Chatrier is the centre court at the French Open in Roland Garros. The French Open is the second major of the year that starts in mid-late May and ends in June. This is the only major that plays its tournament on clay. What the French Open has brought to this sport is the art of the ground stroke. Before modern technology changed tennis into what it is today, tennis used to be an art of serve and volley. The serve and volley era started to die in the mid-to-late 1980s
This is Rafael Nadal. He is a 12x French Open winner and in my opinion is the greatest clay court player of all time. He is also known as the ‘King of Clay’. For good reason too, he has been so dominant on this surface ever since he shocked the world and won the 2005 French Open at age 19. Rafael Nadal has been one of Roger Federer’s biggest rivals beating Federer at the French Open in 2005 (semi-final), 2006 (final), 2007 (final), 2008 (final), 2011 (final), and 2019 (semi-final). Nadal is so deadly to play against at the French Open because of his stamina and his ability to put crazy amount of top spin on the ball which grips to the dirt and jumps very high in the air which is hard to hit winners off of.
Bjorn Borg in my opinion is the second greatest clay court player of all time. Lightning on his feet and stamina for days, Borg just never got tired and never missed. Leaving the likes of Lendl and Vilas in a tail spin. His record six French Open titles was a record until Nadal won his seventh in 2012.
Roger Federer in my opinion is a top three clay court player of all time even though he has only won one French Open title. The reason I say that is because he had to play the best ever at the French Open and if that was not the case, Federer would easily have more than just his one he has. The man he beat in the 2009 French Open final beat Nadal in the 4th round which no one saw coming but it gave Federer a chance he had always been looking for and he did not let it slip. Roger Federer became the sixth man to win the career grand slam which means you won all four majors.
Nadal won his seventh French Open in 2012 passing Bjorn Borg for most of all time. Novak Djokovic (left in the picture) had a great rivalry with Nadal at the French Open and fell short in 2012, 2013, and 2014 losing to Nadal. They would have great rivalries in all the other majors but as far as the French Open is concerned Nadal stopped Federer and Djokovic of multiple major championships being added to their name here at the French Open in Roland Garros.
Tennis Talk 