Examining Roger Federer’s clay-court legacy

It is my firm belief that the whole surface superiority debate in tennis is strange Have you ever wondered how tennis remains to be the only sport where athletes are asked to prove their mettle by playing on surfaces completely foreign to the turf they learned the game on Still when fans like us debate the greatest players of all times we instantly check to see if our idols have won on all three surfaces and all four Grand SlamsRoger Federerrsquos return to tennis for the first time since the 2016 Australian Open was a stellar 63 64 triumph over a good claycourt player in Guillermo GarciaLopez at the Monte Carlo Masters The Swiss Maestro came out with flying colours in knocking off the rust and showing no ill effects from his recent knee surgery and rehabilitationSo was Federers legacy already great regardless of what surface he playedClay has generally been considered his weakest surface which has often led to divided opinions about his success on it Is he an alltime great on clay Just very goodNo it is even more complicated when comparing across eras and generations so where does Federer rank in comparison to the other alltime greats on clayIn the 1970sNone were aware what Federer would do against the likes of Bjorn Borg or Guillermo Vilas the two claycourt titans of the 1970s Borg produced his version of sweeping high topspin with the small head of a wooden racket and won six French Open titles His fitness and footwork were supreme traits that Federer has embodiedWhile it always remained uncertain that Borg came to the modern era and beat Federer with modern equipment the Swiss always got the nod for his gaudy numbers at the Roland Garros He won 30 total claycourt titles and held a 25141 860 record on clayFedererrsquos totals include one French Open title and four finals losses at Roland Garros He has 11 total claycourt titles and is 21166 762 on clayIn the 1980sFollowing Borgrsquos virtual departure from the sport in early 1980s Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander each won three French Open titles with very different stylesTruth be told Lendl with 28 claycourt titles might be considered the easier opponent for Federer in that the Swiss is better at all of the things Lendl did best especially with his footwork and underrated defense Wilander on the other hand may have stolen some matches by absorbing Federerrsquos best shotsIn the 1990sThe 1990s was a significant era for many claycourt stars but it lacked a truly dominant champion at the French Open Sure Jim Courier and Sergi Bruguera each bagged a number of titles at the Roland Garros but the former was way ahead of the curve for only a couple years in slugging his way to those titles His footwork and longevity on clay were nowhere near FedererrsquosHowever by 1995 Bruguera paled next to the ferocious lefthander Thomas Muster a prototype that foreshadowed the way Rafael Nadal would play at least offensivelyAlso Read Roger Federer Carving a legacy that defies timeThere was no stopping Muster between 1995 and 1996 but he only clinched the 1995 French Open Perhaps that one year he would have bludgeoned Federerrsquos backhand with his physical style but Muster also had much of his early career thwarted by a few lost years in recovering from a car accidentThen came along Gustavo Kuerten who reigned between 1997 and 2001 and won three French Open titles with graceful smooth groundstrokes and athleticism His 18980 703 record and 20 claycourt titles may not be as impressive as a few other legends but he showed what he is capable of doing with his win over Federer at the Roland GarrosAgainst Rafael NadalNadal vs Federer is an easy comparison Anyone who has followed tennis for at least the last 15 years knows Nadal built his claycourt legend on the foundation of Federer No second thoughts about thatNadalrsquos claycourt game was superior in terms of wins titles French Open titles and in punishing Federer in headtohead matches There is no contest with 63 titles of the 70 finals he has contested 88637 which is 14 more than the secondmost successful claycourter of all time Guillermo Vilas 23 more than thirdplaced Thomas Muster and 31 more than the great BorgWe will probably never see a player as dominant on clay ever again an argument we put to bed ten years ago It also raises the question what Federer would have accomplished on clay had Nadal never played professional tennis Would he have been esteemed as the alltime claycourt king There is an argument hereAgainst Novak DjokovicUntil 2015 Djokovic also had a similar problem as Nadal on clay but his 804 percent of winning record in his 322 matches on clay could also be bolstered with more legacydefining winsHowever of all the three surfaces on the ATP Tour clay is the one for which Djokovic has the lowest winpercentage But it is not a bad winpercentage at allUntil some years ago Federer kept his edge on the Serb primarily because he was the 2009 French Open champion who could rarely get an opportunity to break down the door with Nadal standing in the way Djokovic features in the top ten of all time for most clay final appearances Interestingly though this is one list of clay achievements that Nadal does not leadWe have all been guilty of pegging Federer and clay as an inharmonious relationship His results on the red dust frequently would get mentioned with a breath of negativity There are even a few critics who somehow express his claycourt legacy as some kind of failureIt is no less than a minor Federer backlash a perceived blemish in a nearperfect body of work but the scrutiny is part of the price tag for his greatness He was so dominant on grass and hard courts that anything less on clay is a shadow of his greater achievementsTo say that Federer should have been a better claycourt player is like suggesting that Leonardo da Vinci should have been a better painter The genius and artistry of da Vinci transcends art and thankfully so Now we of course would not ask him to paint more if he had to sacrifice his inventions drawings and other talentsThere will also be the memories of Federers artistry on clay of each and every time he competed in a big match He always brought a presence a flair and charisma not so different from Gustavo Kuerten and likewise many beautifully struck shots from graceful footworkThe debate over whether Federer is the greatest player in tennis history does not anymore hinge on one surface rather on his game