Nadal has never lost a match at the largest clay court tournament in the world and one of the four grand slams, the French
Open. Nadal is 21-0 at the Paris tournament.
"That's not bad," Nadal said of his clay record.
During the period of years from 2005-2007, Nadal has won the French Open three times (2005-2007), finished as a Wimbledon
runnerup twice (2006-2007) and has defeated world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland at the French Open in 2005, 2006
and 2007.
Nadal won a record 81 clay court matches in a row before losing to Federer in the 2007 Hamburg final.
In 2002 Nadal won his first ATP Tour match as a 15 year old. His heavy topspin groundstrokes and lefty slice serve have
since then propelled him to the very top of men's tennis.
28-6 this year however in match play Nadal had struggled early in the year losing in the semfinals of the Australian Open
to then unknown but very talented Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
At home on the clay courts last week at Monte
Carlo, Nadal took his
first ATP Tour
singles title of the year at the Masters Series Monte-Carlo defeating Federer in the final 7-5, 7-5.
And with the wins last week and this week, Nadal again this year begins another sterling clay court season by positioning
himself once again as the favorite for the French Open singles title.
