"Rafael Nadal does lose out a bit in GOAT debate because he hasn't done as well at other 3 Slams as he has at French Open" - Tennis journalist

Chris Bowers, the biographer of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, said in a recent podcast that Rafael Nadal's dominance at the French Open compared to his relatively lesser success at the rest of the Grand Slams is a chink in the Spaniard's armor.

Bowers is a tennis commentator and one of the world's leading tennis journalists, who's been reporting on the global tennis circuit since the late 1980s. He has also authored several tennis-related books, which include the first English-language biography of Roger Federer and a part-biography of Novak Djokovic.

On the latest episode of the 'ATP Tennis Radio podcast', Bowers was asked whether being the King of Clay went in the 14-time French Open champion's favor or against him.

"Does the fact that Nadal dominated and let's face it, he will probably go to his grave as the King of Clay. Even the previous kings of clay like Thomas Muster called him the King of Clay. Does that go in his favor or does it slightly go against him the fact that his dominance came more on one surface than the other three?" presenter Seb Lauzier asked (at 15:17).

Bowers responded (at 15:36):

"I think if you look (at) Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, they all had one Major which they won a lot more of. Federer won more Wimbledon than anything else, Nadal won more Roland Gaross than anyone else, than any of the other three, and Djokovic has done the best in Australia."

He went on to talk about the Spaniard's relatively lesser success in the other Grand Slam tournaments as compared to the claycourt Major, and how it may have created a disadvantage for him.

"I don’t think that diminishes them as long as their whole of their other three slams is good. This is where I think (Rafael) Nadal does lose out a little bit (in the GOAT debate) because he hasn’t done as well at the other three (Grand Slams as he has at French Open), especially at Wimbledon where he has just won the 2."

The renowned author also said people should appreciate the Big 3 for their achievements rather than dividing them.

"But, I don’t know, I mean, we’re splitting hairs here. I mean, those three are just so phenomenal that we’re looking at ways of dividing them rather than appreciating what they did."

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3 times Rafael Nadal was taken to 5 sets at the French Open

Rafael Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime pictured at the 2022 French Open

Rafael Nadal is nearly untouchable at the French Open and boasts a phenomenal 112-3 record across 18 appearances. However, there have been three instances in Nadal's career where his opponents have managed to push him to a 5-setter.

The first came in the first round of 2011 Roland-Garros against John Isner. The 22-time Slam champion came back from one set to two down to win the match 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4.

Nadal's second five-setter came in the semifinal of the 2013 edition of the claycourt Major. He and Novak Djokovic played a back-and-forth match in which the Spaniard managed to bring out his best tennis to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7(3), 9-7.

The final player to achieve this feat against Nadal was Felix Auger-Aliassime, in the fourth round of the 2022 French Open. The southpaw eventually prevailed with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.