When he was 16, Rafael Nadal liked playing on grass and indoor hardcourt more than clay

Rafael Nadal is by far the most successful claycourt player in the history of men's tennis. He has won the most singles titles on clay, and is considered virtually unbeatable on the surface.

However, he didn't always love playing on clay the way he does now. In fact, he had once said he preferred playing on indoor courts and grass over clay!

It was way back in 2002 when Rafael Nadal made this shocking declaration. He was speaking in an interview in Mallorca just before turning 16; aged all of 15 years and 10 months of age, he had just registered his first win on the ATP Tour (against Ramon Delgado). This was, of course, well before he had won his first tournament, let alone a Grand Slam.

“The truth is that I like more indoor court or grass than playing on land (clay),” the Spaniard had said.

Un pequeño Rafael Nadal, con apenas 16 años, declaraba lo siguiente en Mallorca."La verdad que a mi me gusta más pista cubierta o hierba que jugar en tierra"."Me gustaría ganar Wimbledon pero esta muy dificil y hay que trabajar mucho". pic.twitter.com/rjKk46s0Bw

— Tenis Central (@Tenis_Central) July 10, 2020

Little did the teenage Nadal know then that he would go on to win a mammoth 59 titles on clay, including a record 12 French Open titles. And this tally is expected to increase even further by the time he calls it a day.

While Rafael Nadal was just giving his opinion, which is totally subjective in nature, it is hard to deny that his career fortunes on grass and clay have turned out exactly the opposite.

Rafael Nadal's contrasting results on grass and clay

Rafael Nadal with the 2019 French Open trophy

As of today Rafael Nadal is undoubtedly the greatest claycourter in the history of the sport. His records on the surface keep piling up with every tournament, and the likelihood of anyone overtaking them is almost nil.

The Spaniard has a career win-loss record of 436–39 on clay, with an astonishing 92% success rate. Moreover, Rafael Nadal has won a total of 93 matches at Roland Garros, losing just twice - once to Robin Soderling in 2009 and once to Novak Djokovic in 2015. (In 2016 he gave a walkover to Marcel Granollers in the third round). That gives him a staggering 98% win record at the claycourt Grand Slam.

To put it in simple words, a player has to put in a superhuman effort - and also hope that Rafael Nadal is not at his best - in order to register a win over him on clay.

By contrast, Nadal has a 71-20 win record on grass with a 78% win rate. He has won four tournaments on the surface out of the 24 that he has competed in, which includes two titles at Wimbledon.

Admittedly, these are pretty decent figures when considered on their own. But when put next to Rafael Nadal’s records on clay, they appear very pale and unimpressive.

Besides, Nadal’s record at Wimbledon post 2010 has been quite dismal. He has reached the finals just once, and has managed to go past the quarters on a mere three occasions. His losses have come against low-ranked players like Lukas Rosol, Steve Darcis, Nick Kyrgios, Dustin Brown and Gilles Muller.

Rafael Nadal after losing to Gilles Muller in 2017

Nadal's statistics on indoor hardcourt - his other preferred surface at 16 - are even worse. He has an 89-38 win-loss record there, with just two titles. The Spaniard has famously never won the year-ending championships, which are always held indoors.

Rafael Nadal and his desire to win Wimbledon

Despite his comparatively poor record on grass, Rafael Nadal always wanted to win the title at Wimbledon. In the same interview in 2002, the Spaniard said the following (Spanish translated to English):

“I would like to win Wimbledon but it is very difficult and it takes a lot of work.”

Rafael Nadal with his 2010 Wimbledon title

The Spaniard was spot on regarding the effort required to win at Wimbledon. Nadal had to suffer the pain of two consecutive final defeats against Roger Federer at SW19, in 2006 and 2007, which made many believe he was destined to never win there.

But in 2008 Nadal overcame the odds, some severe knee problems and the legendary Swiss grasscourter to lift his first Wimbledon title and slay all his demons. He would go on to win the coveted trophy a second time in 2010.