ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
While stats alone cannot do justice to Rafael Nadal's impact on world tennis in recent decades, they nevertheless provide irrefutable evidence of his hegemony on the professional tour. These astonishing numbers are now permanently set in stone, or rather in the clay of his most cherished playground: Roland-Garros.
Rafael Nadal & Roland-Garros: the numbers behind the dominance
We take a look at the Mallorcan’s sensational stats and supremacy at the Parisian venue.
©Pauline Ballet / FFT14
Where else to start but with the most mind-blowing of all Rafa’s numbers in Paris. Between 2005 and 2024 (19 editions), he reached 14 Roland-Garros finals and won all 14 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022) – as tournament announcer Marc Maury expressed so well.
17
The number of years separating his first and last Roland-Garros titles. Nadal was only 19 when he saw off Mariano Puerta to claim his maiden "Coupe des Mousquetaires" in 2005. By the time he had lifted his last against Casper Ruud in 2022, he was 36. A truly glorious reign.
112 / 4
As in the Spaniard’s win/loss record on Parisian clay – an astounding 96.5% of wins. Space and time prevent us from listing all the unfortunate losers (of which there are 74), so here is the list of those who achieved the seemingly impossible by toppling him there: Robin Söderling (2009), Novak Djokovic (2015, 2021) and Alexander Zverev (2024). Yes, it really is that short!
90
Of those 112 victories, the Mallorcan managed 90 in straight sets. All told, he has only dropped 37 sets across 19 editions while winning 333... a degree of domination no one else has come close to.
24
The number of sets won 6-0 by Nadal throughout his Parisian odyssey. During the 2017 edition, he even came close to recording a ‘perfect’ win in the third round against Nikoloz Basilashvili, the latter only taking a solitary game (in the second set). Conversely, the Spaniard has never been on the receiving end of a ‘bagel’ at his beloved Roland-Garros.
39
As in the number of consecutive victories he racked up between 2010 and 2015 at theFrench Open – a tournament record.
4
Of his 14 title wins, 4 were achieved without the loss of a single set: 2008, 2010, 2017 and 2020. In addition, he also won 7 of his finals in straight sets.
3
As in the tiny number of times the ‘King of Clay’ was taken to five sets at his spiritual home. Those who took him all the way were John Isner (2011 first round), Novak Djokovic (2013 semi-finals) and Félix Auger-Aliassime (2022 round of 16). And while all three succumbed in the end, their feats are still notable, given only 16 players ever took a set from him at Porte d’Auteuil.
10
The number of ‘Djokodal’ clashes on the Roland-Garros clay. While the Serb will always be the only person to have beaten ‘Rafa’ twice there (in 2015 and 2021), he is also his most frequent victim (8 wins), ahead of Roger Federer (6) and Dominic Thiem (4).
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT