Rafael Nadal reveals his second best surface | ATP Tour

Rafael Nadal

Nadal: The ‘King of clay’ reveals his second best surface

The Spanish participated this week in the podcast of Roddick

March 14, 2025

Were Rafael Nadal’s skills to perform on any undervalued surface at the beginning of his iconic career?

Spanish believes it. Nadal, retired in November with 92 titles in his name, considers that his immediate success about clay confused expectations about his fastest surface performance.

“As I started winning of often on beaten soil, people thought he was simply a fasteist with whipped land,” Nadal told Andy Roddick on the Podcast Served. “The truth is that my game adapted well to the beaten earth, but I loved playing on faster surfaces. I finished my career winning a couple of us open [en los últimos años]but my second best surface was the grass. “

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Nadal won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles on Roland Garros’s clay, while the Australian Open twice and up to four times the US Open. In addition, he won two of the 15 editions played in Wimbledon. The Balearic never doubted his hits about grass, despite his early irruption on slower surfaces.

“I disputed the Wimbledon final in 2006, it is not that it took me five years about grass,” said Nadal, who broke into the 2005 season winning 11 titles in the ATP Tour with just 18 years. “I lost in the second round of 2005 against Gilles Muller. In 2004 I could not compete because I was injured, but in 2003 I beat Mario Ancic [futuro semifinalista de Wimbledon] In the first round. My game adapted well to all surfaces. “

Nadal acknowledged against Roddick that his grass progress was hard affected in the middle of his career due to knee problems.

“I was in the Wimbledon final in 2006 and 2007, I won in 2008, and in 2009 I could not play,” Nadal explained. “Then, I won in 2010 and I reached the final in 2011. Not counting the 2009 edition, I reached five consecutive finals. Then, I reached a point where I could not play in grass for years. My knees did not endure it, I was unable to stop. After that, between 2012 and 2016, my knees were not in a position to play in grass. Then I could recover them and I returned to play on a good level.”

“For me it was something painful. If I managed to stay healthy, I felt that my options were greater in grass than on a hard track. I honestly preferred to compete before Novak[Djokovic)ingrassthanonahardtrack”[Djokovic)enhierbaqueenpistadura”[Djokovic)ingrassthanonahardtrack”[Djokovic)enhierbaqueenpistadura”

In an extensive interview, Roddick also asked Nadal about different issues, including his role in the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or the work carried out by the Rafa Nadal Foundation.