French Open 2012 TV Schedule: Rafael Nadal Ready to Make Clay Court History

Is Rafael Nadal the greatest clay court player in the history of men's tennis?

Many (if not most) in the sport would argue that he is, though there won't be much of an argument to be made against it if Nadal goes on to win the 2012 French Open.

Another run through Roland Garros would give the swarthy Spaniard his seventh French Open title, making him the winningest participant in the tournament's 121-year history. Nadal has won the Parisian prize in each of the last two years, beating Robin Soderling in the 2010 final and arch-rival Roger Federer last year to equal Bjorn Borg's stash of French silverware.

Nadal will begin his quest for his third in a row (and seventh overall) on Tuesday.

Nadal has already done plenty in his career to merit consideration ahead of Borg as the best there ever was on clay. According to Michelle Kaufman of The Miami Herald, Nadal has won a greater share of his matches on clay (93 percent) than did Borg (86 percent), bolstered by a 46-1 record at the French Open.

And it's not as though Nadal's dominance is solely reserved for French clay, either. Of his 49 career tournament wins, 35 have come on clay courts, including eight in Monte Carlo, seven in Barcelona and six in Rome, making him the record-holder in each of those three.

Nadal is also 3-for-3 in previous French Open title tries following trebles in the aforementioned European tournaments. A victory on June 10 would make him a perfect 4-for-4; he defeated Novak Djokovic in Monaco and Italy, and he downed David Ferrer in Spain.

More remarkable is that Nadal is still only 25 years old. He'll turn 26 on June 3, in the midst of his latest French Open run. A win for Nadal, then, would serve as a something of a belated birthday present for himself.

Not that putting to bed any debate about clay court greatness would necessarily satiate Rafa's hunger for greatness anyway. ESPN tennis analyst Patrick McEnroe puts it this way:

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"To me, he's the greatest clay-courter ever — already. To me, what he's chasing is trying to chase down Roger [Federer] and get into the conversation of being the greatest of all-time, and the greatest of this era. And if it wasn't for a guy named [Novak] Djokovic doing what he did last year, Nadal might be knocking on the door of doing that."

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In that regard, Nadal still has plenty of work ahead of him. He trails Federer, who may well be the greatest to ever swing a racquet, by 25 career tournament titles and six Grand Slam championships. 

For now, though, Rafa can take some measure of comfort and pride in knowing that he's already cornered the historical market market on clay, even as he eyes a more prominent place among the all-time greats whose company he currently shares.

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