Clay-court tennis is a difficult art to master, but some greats of the sport have found themselves at home on the dirt.
Here, looking at a combination of factors including French Open success, overall titles won, win percentage, and era, we rank the ten greatest male clay-courters of the Open Era.
10) Thomas Muster
Muster’s career is often undersold, though there is no denying he was one of the elite clay-courters of his or any era.
Of his 44 career titles, 40 were won on clay – a total only beaten by two men in the Open Era – and he held an impressive win rate of 77.03%, the tenth-highest of the professional age.
The former world No 1 is probably best remembered for his 1995 French Open triumph, though he was also a three-time Monte Carlo and three-time Rome champion at his very peak.
9) Ilie Nastase
10) The first man to ever be ranked as the ATP world No 1, Nastase was a potent threat on all surfaces – but it was arguably on clay where he was the most dangerous.
Nastase reached the first of his five Grand Slam singles finals at Roland Garros in 1971 and would win his first of two major titles at the tournament in 1973, one of 30 titles on the surface.
His 30 titles on the dirt rank him sixth in the Open Era, while he also sits sixth in terms of clay-court win percentage, with a win rate of 77.99%.
8) Gustavo Kuerten
9) One of the most popular players of all time, former world No 1 Kuerten was the winner of 20 ATP Tour titles – with 14 of those coming on the dirt.
While his haul of titles and win percentage (69.88%) are not as high as some on this list, he was twice a champion in Monte Carlo, a winner in Rome and Hamburg – and a three-time French Open champion.
Kuerten triumphed three times in the space of five tournaments in Paris, lifting the title in 1997, 2000, and 2001 to cement his place as a clay-court great.
7) Roger Federer
8) Had it not been for a certain Spaniard, Federer could have achieved even more on clay and been ranked higher up this list, though what he was still able to achieve was incredibly impressive.
Federer memorably lifted the French Open title in 2009 to complete the Career Grand Slam and reached a further four finals, cementing his spot as one of the best players of his era on the dirt.
6) Guillermo Vilas
7) Arguably the best player to never be ranked world No 1, clay was the defining surface of Vilas’ career, with the Argentine winning 79.9% of his matches on the dirt – the fifth-most of the Open Era.
Vilas’s haul of 49 titles on clay is only beaten by one player while his 672 match wins on the dirt is an Open Era record unlikely to ever be broken.
He won both the 1977 French Open and US Open on clay, reaching a further three finals at Roland Garros, and was a champion in Monte Carlo, Rome, and Hamburg across his pioneering career.
5) Mats Wilander
6) Kicking off the top half of our countdown is former world No 1 Wilander, whose dominance on clay at the peak of his powers is highlighted by his French Open triumphs in 1982, 1985, and 1988.
Wilander reached a further two finals at Roland Garros and won 20 of his 33 career titles on the surface, with two Monte Carlo titles, an Italian Open title, and three Barcelona Open titles in his collection.
Only eight men in the Open Era won more clay-court titles than the Swede, whose win percentage of 76,68% ranks him 12th in the all-time standings.
4) Ivan Lendl
5) Lendl and Wilander are up against each other in the battle to be recognised as the greatest clay-courter of their era, though it is the Czech who edges things overall.
The former world No 1 won a staggering 81.03% of his matches on clay – a win rate beaten by just two men – while his haul of 28 titles ranks him seventh in the Open Era.
Lendl reached five Roland Garros finals and triumphed in 1984, 1986, and 1987, while also reigning multiple times in both Rome and Monte Carlo.
3) Novak Djokovic
4) Life on clay courts has not necessarily been easy for Djokovic, but the Serbian has undoubtedly proven himself among the very top dirtballers in the Open Era.
Djokovic’s clay-court success is undoubtedly highlighted by his French Open triumphs in 2016, 2021, and 2023, though he has reached seven finals in total at Roland Garros.
Despite being up against a certain Spaniard, the former world No 1 has also won six Italian Open titles, three Madrid Open titles, and two Monte Carlo titles, alongside the Paris 2024 Olympic gold on clay.
Djokovic’s 20 clay titles rank him joint-eighth in the Open Era, while his win percentage of 80.56% is the fourth-highest of the professional age.
2) Bjorn Borg
3) Few have dominated on clay as much as Borg, who achieved an astonishing level of success on the surface before his early retirement at the age of 26.
The Swede’s haul of six French Open titles is beaten by only one man in the Open Era, with Borg winning back-to-back titles as a teen in 1974 and 1975 – before claiming four straight titles from 1978-81.
Borg won 32 clay titles in total, the fourth-most of any man in the Open Era, with three Monte Carlo Masters victories and two Italian Open crowns among the leading trophies in his cabinet.
Overall, he won a staggering 85.71% of his matches on clay, a record only beaten by one player in the professional age.
1) Rafael Nadal
2) Could anyone else have topped this countdown?
Nadal’s dominance on clay is one of the greatest achievements in tennis history and across all sports of general, and is highlighted by his staggering 112-4 win-loss record at the French Open.
The Spaniard won a historic 14 titles at Roland Garros – the most titles any man or woman has won at an individual major – though he also dominated at multiple events.
Nadal won 12 Barcelona Open titles, 11 Monte Carlo Masters titles, and 10 Italian Open titles, with his 63 overall titles on the dirt the most of any man.
He won an incredible 90.47% of his matches on the surface, cementing his place as the ‘King of Clay’.
