David Nalbandian- Getty Images

The Kings of Clay

April 28, 2008

For two months each spring the men of the ATP tour battle for championship trophies on the gritty red clay, one of three main surfaces in professional tennis. While many men have captured titles at clay court tournaments over the years, the months of April and May are often dominated by players from only two countries, Spain and Argentina.

Exhibit A: The last six Roland Garros champions have hailed from one of the two countries. Spaniard Rafael Nadal is the three-time defending champion and before him, the title was won by Argentinean Gaston Gaudio in 2004 and Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003) and Albert Costa (2002). And it’s not just the Grand Slam where this is evident, as the rest of the clay tournaments have also been dominated by players from the these two powerhouses, a trend that is likely to continue into this season.

So who are this year’s specialists? As the current clay court season gets underway in Europe, it is worth looking at the cream of the crop on this surface.

Any discussion about the tour’s top players on clay has to begin with Nadal, the undisputed best man on the red surface. He has yet to eclipse world No.1 Roger Federer (Switzerland) in the world rankings but every spring, Rafa is the one to beat. His record on clay is unmatched: he’s gone 112-3 on clay over the past three years, including an Open Era record 81-match winning streak that began in Monte-Carlo in 2005 and ended in the Hamburg final last year when he fell to Federer in three sets. Over his clay career, he’s also captured 17 trophies, among them the last four Monte-Carlo Masters Shields and three straight titles each at the French Open and the Rome Masters Series event.

Two other top 10 players that count clay as their best surface are David Ferrer (Spain) and David Nalbandian (Argentina). While these two men have posted stellar results on all surfaces and are among the world’s elite, they seem to play their best on the slow red courts. Of Ferrer’s six career ATP titles, four of them have come on clay. He’s also posted some impressive results at other major events, including four straight quarter-final appearances at the Masters Series event in Monte-Carlo and a semifinal appearance at the Rome Masters event in 2005. Similarly, Nalbandian has also collected four clay court titles, reached the semifinals at the French Open in 2004 and 2006, and was a finalist in Rome in 2004.

Also included in the mix are a trio of Spanish veterans in Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Tommy Robredo. Each of them have shown clay to be their overwhelmingly strongest surface as they’ve all won the majority of their titles on those courts. Moya has captured a whopping 16 of his 20 career titles on clay, among them the 1998 French Open crown and a Masters Shield in Rome. Ferrero’s record is eight of 11, including the 2003 Roland Garros title, a pair of Monte-Carlo shields, and a victory in Rome, while Robredo’s count is five of six with a trophy in Hamburg two years ago among the most impressive. In addition, these three players have been consistently excellent at the clay court season’s biggest event, the French Open. Moya has compiled a 33-11 record in 12 tournaments, Ferrero’s mark is 30-7, and Robredo has reached the fourth round or better in six of the last seven he’s played in.

And then there are the men that fly under the radar for most of the year, only to emerge as bona fide stars during the clay court season. Argentina’s Juan Monaco is one such player. Last season he collected the first three titles of his career (Buenos Aires, Poertschach, and Kitzbuhel) and all were on the clay surface. And Nicolas Almagro (Spain), like Monaco, has experienced his greatest success on the surface. All four of his career ATP titles have come on the surface (in Costa do Sauipe and Acapulco in February, and back-to-back Valencia titles in 2006 and 2007) and he reached the final of two other clay court events in the last year.

For the next month and a half, these players will surely feel at home as they vie for ranking points and trophies on their favourite surface.