Nadal Has Had an Advantage Over Me in Clay: Federer

While Roger Federer skips the clay season for the second time in a row, Rafael Nadal is under a lot of pressure to defend more than 4000 points having won a series of clay tournaments last year. The Spaniard has already reached the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters as he looks to get back to his optimum physical strength.

Nadal has only been beaten twice on clay by Federer – once in 2007 and once in 2009. While all their clashes on other courts have been a competitive affair, clay court matches have mostly been one sided in favor of Nadal. Commenting on this, Federer said that he very well acknowledges the advantage that Nadal has over him.

He recently said, “Clearly Rafa has always had an advantage over me on a clay court and the record confirms that. I tried many different things to change that head-to-head, changing a few things on my backhand, looking at different tactics, but he had the answers on clay.

We see our matches on other surfaces are quite close, but this is where he has been dominant and at this point in my career, I have to give myself the best chance of winning tournaments and that is why I missed the clay court season.’

‘His movement is so impressive on clay and his game fits the surface perfectly.

I feel like I can play well on clay, but it is physically demanding and Rafa has mastered that surface better than anyone.’

Notably Federer has only won the French Open once and that too without beating Nadal, who lost in the fourth round against Robin Sonderlings. He skipped the clay court season last year as well, citing fitness issues. Nadal on the other hand said he’d never be able to miss certain tournaments intentionally like Roger.

Read: Greatest Clay Court Players of All Time