Patrick Mouratoglou made a rather bold claim recently, remarking that Novak Djokovic, at his peak, is a better player than Rafael Nadal on clay. The esteemed coach was of the opinion that the World No. 1 would be the favorite for this year's Roland Garros as a result, noting that his win over the Spaniard in the 2021 edition would give him a slight edge.
However, it should be noted that the loss the Mallorcan sustained in Paris last year was only his eighth on the surface against Djokovic. The World No. 4 has amassed 19 wins against the Serb on clay over the years.
At the French Open, the Spaniard has beaten the Serb six times to date, while losing only twice. Novak Djokovic may be the only player to have defeated the 35-year-old twice in the tournament, but their head-to-head record clearly indicates that the Mallorcan has been the superior player on clay.
Mouratoglou's comments naturally copped a lot of criticism from tennis fans on social media. Many opined that the fact that the Spaniard is the best player on clay is not even up for debate, chastising Mouratoglou for not looking at the numbers properly before running his mouth.
While most agreed that Djokovic was an excellent player on clay, they did not think it was fair to place someone who has won only two French Open titles higher on the list than someone who has won 13.
"I'm tired of hearing from Patrick Mouratoglou and his BS. Rafa Nadal is the undisputed King of Clay, its not even up for discussion. Take your nonsense back to the GOAT debate," one fan tweeted.
"I agree that Djokovic is an unbelievable player on clay, and arguably one of the best in recent times, but definitely behind Nadal. The reason he didn't win more RG titles? NADAL," another fan tweeted.
"To be fair, when you look at the same figures, Nadal has beaten Djokovic more than twice as many times on clay. Djokovic is amazing, and I think he’s second best on clay and maybe even second best on clay ever on the ATP, but this is quite an exaggeration," one user wrote. "Djokovic is a master at producing his best tennis in the biggest matches. If his best on clay were the best in the world, he’d have won way more than two Roland-Garros titles."
It is not just in terms of Grand Slam titles that the 21-time Major champion has the upper hand. He also has a sizable lead over Djokovic in the overall number of clay tournaments and Masters 1000 titles won, a fact repeatedly brought up by fans on Twitter to dismiss Mouratoglou's comments.
"Roland Garros: Nadal: 13, Djokovic: 2. M1000 clay: Nadal: 26, Djokovic: 10. Coach Pimou’s personalized NFT [is a clown]," one account posted.
"At RG, When he is at his best, he lost to Wawrinka, he lost to Federer, he lost to Thiem twice, he lost to Nadal multiple times. In 2020 at his absolute best he got bagelled. In 2021 Rome lost to Rafa. In 2019 Rome got bagelled by Rafa. Many more, 1 tweet is not enough," another user posted.
Rafael Nadal holds the record for best-ever winning percentage on clay as well as longest winning streak on the surface
The 21-time Grand Slam champion has a 91.5% winning percentage on clay, winning 464 matches and losing only 43. This makes him the player with the highest-ever winning percentage on the surface. Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, has an 80.5% winning percentage on clay, with 244 victories and 59 losses.
The Spaniard also has the longest winning streak on the surface, claiming 81 victories on the trot between the 2005 Monte-Carlo Masters and the 2007 Hamburg Masters. The next best streak belongs to Guillermo Vilas (53), followed by Bjorn Borg (48) and Thomas Muster (40).
Djokovic's best winning streak on clay is only 17 matches long, between the 2011 Serbia Open and the 2011 Roland Garros. For the record, Nadal has eight streaks longer than that.
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