Dominant on Clay/Winners on All Surfaces - The Top 6 Greatest Clay Court Players of All Time

As I see it we have 5 distinct seasons in professional tennis - slow hard court (Australian – Indian Wells), clay court, grass court, fast hard court (US Open Series) and indoor. Different surfaces and surface speeds lend themselves to different styles of play and call for different sets of tactics. This is why we see certain players thrive during certain parts of the playing season.
Most obvious are the currently-front-and-center, clay courters. There are more clay court specialists than any of the other surfaces seem to draw out. And this does not preclude their success on other surfaces – particularly recently as the other surfaces have been slowed down - but it means that the bulk of their success came on clay.
We are living in the era of the best clay court player of all time. Nadal has never lost a match at Roland Garros and he is undefeated in 5 set matches on clay, winning 45 straight. Just shy of 23, Nadal is and will remain the benchmark for greatness on clay for years to come – perhaps more than just clay when all is said and done. But who else is in his class? Here are my top 5 after Nadal.


5. Mats Wilander – You don’t win the French Open 3 times and finish runner-up twice without being pretty good on clay. And to win it the first time as an unseeded player beating Lendl, Gueralitis, Clerc and Vilas along the way is pretty incredible. That trip to the winner’s circle made him the youngest player to have won at Roland Garros at the time.
Mats won on grass and hard as well and he is one of only 3 players in the open era to own a Grand Slam on all three surfaces (note that the grass court slam came in Australia not Wimbledon). His winning percentages on all surfaces except carpet were very good. He played many more clay court events and won 20 clay court titles overall. With a game somewhat modeled after Borg, his exceptional two-handed backhand and ability to outlast and out-guile opponents helped him achieve tremendous success.
4. Ivan Lendl – Not many people think of Lendl as a dominant clay court player but let’s consider. His first Grand Slam came at the French and he played in no less than 5 finals, winning 3 of them. He also won 28 titles on clay, more than he won on any other surface. His style was very much built around clay court strategy. Lendl used a dominant forehand with heavy spin to control points, and his fitness and endurance allowed him to grind opponents down.
Of course Lendl’s success on other surfaces put him in the conversation when discussing the best of all time. Only Wimbledon eluded him, although he played in two finals.
3. Thomas Muster – How could you not admire this guy? In 1995 he’s on the brink of breaking through, making it to the Australian semi-finals and preparing to play Lendl in the finals of the Lipton when he tragically gets hit by a drunk driver and needs knee surgery. He devises a chair so he can practice flogging forehands during recovery and spends hours a day doing so. He is back on the court in six months.
He was gritty and determined and fiercely fit. A lefty with giant spin Muster won the French only 1 time but literally dominated on clay during his entire career and particularly in 1995-96 when he went 111-5, a mark that continues to stand as the best two year record on any surface. Muster also made it to the quarters at the US Open on three occasions.
2. Guillermo Vilas – Vilas experienced success on all surfaces but there is no doubt his specialty was clay. Some might say Nadal is Vilas in younger form as both powerful lefties dominated the surface in their era. Vilas in fact owned the record for the longest winning streak on clay at 53 matches until Nadal surpassed him. Surprisingly though, he won the French only one time (the year that Borg did not compete) but was finalist on 3 other occasions and he won the US Open in 1977 when it was played on Har-Tru.
Vilas won titles on every surface and made it to the Wimbledon quarters twice so he was able to come to net. In fact in his US Open title over Connors in ’77 at Forest Hills he won by surprising his American rival and attacking the net.
1. Bjorn Borg – Winner of 6 French Opens, and likely would have won 7 straight if he had not been under contract with WTT in 1977 preventing him from competing. He practically invented the heavy ball that is now considered a must for success on this surface. He was also a fast, well-conditioned, athlete who understood that it is best not to miss but to wear opponents down.
Of course Borg’s success on other surfaces is legendary, winning Wimbledon 5 times. Although Borg made it to the finals at the US Open 4 times he never could convert the victory there, on Har-Tru or hard courts. He seldom played the Australian

Next up…the 5 greatest clay court players never to win the French Open.