Which player has had the most impressive victory over Rafael Nadal on clay in the 2017-2020 period?

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

The greatest warrior and fighter of tennis world, the clay God Rafa has lost only 6 clay matches in 4 seasons. Ofcourse, all of them were in Best of 3 sets format, he didn't lose any match at Roland Garros and is riding a 28 match winning streak in best of 5 sets' clay matches, dropping only 3 sets along the way with 25 straight set wins.

So, It was a quite impressive feat to take him down on clay in the last 4 years, despite the Spaniard warrior not being at the peak of his clay powers like 2005-2013.
Needless to say, that half of those losses were handed to him by Dominic Thiem. The other losses include matches vs Fognini, Tsitsipas & Schwartzman.

Which one to you, was the most impressive one?? Which player was the most impressive in his victory??
I've given the scoreline of each and a highlight video in the second video.
Discuss and vote in the poll. Also, I'm a relatively new to this forum, so please forgive any mistakes or errors I make in the post.
Thanks for reading and responding, love you all.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

Scorelines and Highlights of all matches

2017 Rome masters 1000 Quarter Finals :- Dominic Thiem def. Nadal 6-4 6-3

2018 Madrid masters 1000 Quarter Finals :- Dominic Thiem def. Nadal 7-5 6-3

2019 Monte Carlo masters 1000 Semi Finals :- Fabio Fognini def. Nadal 6-4 6-2

2019 Barcelona Open ATP 500 Semi Finals :- Dominic Thiem def. Nadal 6-4 6-4

2019 Madrid masters 1000 Semi Finals :- Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Nadal 6-4 2-6 6-3

2020 Rome masters 1000 Quarter Finals :- Diego Schwartzman def. Nadal 6-2 7-5

Diego Schwartzman GOD MODE vs Rafa Nadal | Rome 2020 Quarter-Finals

A quite sensational performance against the 9x champ! SUBSCRIBE to our channel for the best ATP tennis videos and tennis highlights: https://www.youtube.co...

m.youtube.com

Deleted member 748597 · Dec 5, 2020

Djokovic RG 2020 final in my dream last night.

Clay lover · Dec 5, 2020

Probably Thiem 2017. The closer to his prime the harder Nadal was to beat

weakera · Dec 5, 2020

For sure none of the 2019 matches or the Diego 2020. He wasn't close to top form in any.

Im(moral) Winner · Dec 5, 2020

Tsitsipas. Beating his nemesis at his home.

Mainad · Dec 5, 2020

Nole Slam said:
Djokovic RG 2020 final in my dream last night.

Dream or nightmare? Did you wake up screaming?

BackhandDTL · Dec 5, 2020

1) Thiem Rome 17
2) Fognini Monte Carlo 19.
3) 2018 Madrid Thiem

Third Serve · Dec 5, 2020

Thiem 2017 no doubt. That was actually a good win over Nadal. Shame he tainted that achievement by losing meekly to Djokovic the next round.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

Nole Slam said:
Djokovic RG 2020 final in my dream last night.

Oh come on, sir.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

Clay lover said:
Probably Thiem 2017. The closer to his prime the harder Nadal was to beat

I agree sir. My vote goes to Rome 2017 as well.
Thiem had to literally go on a purple patch for 2 hours on every single ball.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

Third Serve said:
Thiem 2017 no doubt. That was actually a good win over Nadal. Shame he tainted that achievement by losing meekly to Djokovic the next round.

The scoreline 1-6 0-6 was very shocking. That too, against the 2017 Nole.

Nadalgaenger · Dec 5, 2020

Which Thiem victory ended Nadal’s record run of straight sets won in clay?

Love this thread.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

Nadalgaenger said:
Which Thiem victory ended Nadal’s record run of straight sets won in clay?

Love this thread.

Erm, it was 2018 Madrid masters win, I think
Nadal had an unprecedented 50 sets winning streak on clay, sir.

Deleted member 748597 · Dec 5, 2020

Mainad said:
Dream or nightmare? Did you wake up screaming?

It was a beautiful dream. Djokovic fans were having some real fun on TTW.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

Mainad said:
Dream or nightmare? Did you wake up screaming?

Nole Slam said:
It was a beautiful dream. Djokovic fans were having some real fun on TTW.

Apologies for interruption, but I sincerely think that the thread is heavily detailing from the topic.

Mainad · Dec 5, 2020

Rafa4LifeEver said:
Apologies for interruption, but I sincerely think that the thread is heavily detailing from the topic.

Yeah, sorry. @Nole Slam has that effect on me.

Deleted member 748597 · Dec 5, 2020

Rafa4LifeEver said:
Apologies for interruption, but I sincerely think that the thread is heavily detailing from the topic.

Well, I do have few nominations for the best derailer of a thread so far.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 5, 2020

Mainad said:
Yeah, sorry. @Nole Slam has that effect on me.

Nole Slam said:
Well, I do have few nominations for the best derailer of a thread so far.

Seems like you two are great friends.
Shall we make a trio?? It'll be like Djokovic-Murray-Nadal sort of.

On the topic though, what's your choice out of the options given here in thread??

Mainad · Dec 5, 2020

Rafa4LifeEver said:
Seems like you two are great friends.
Shall we make a trio?? It'll be like Djokovic-Murray-Nadal sort of.

On the topic though, what's your choice out of the options given here in thread??

I went for Fognini. It's almost impossible to get past Nadal at Monte Carlo (his 2nd most successful event after RG) especially when he gets to the semis (Murray tried it 3 times at the same stage but could never do it).

TearTheRoofOff · Dec 5, 2020

Third Serve said:
Thiem 2017 no doubt. That was actually a good win over Nadal. Shame he tainted that achievement by losing meekly to Djokovic the next round.

Standard procedure.

StrongRule · Dec 5, 2020

Thiem in Madrid 2018 and Barcelona 2019. I think it were better wins than Rome 2017.

Schwartzman also played a great match in Rome 2020.

StrongRule · Dec 5, 2020

Mainad said:
I went for Fognini. It's almost impossible to get past Nadal at Monte Carlo (his 2nd most successful event after RG) especially when he gets to the semis (Murray tried it 3 times at the same stage but could never do it).

That was probably the worst match on clay in Nadal's career. He also said that in an interview. Even in 2015 he wasn't THAT bad.

metsman · Dec 5, 2020

The fabulous one.

BeatlesFan · Dec 5, 2020

I'm going with an unconventional pick: Diego beating Rafa in Rome this year. Rafa is 34, coming back from the lockdown, skipped a slam to prepare for clay and was obviously highly motivated to show the field, "I'm still a factor on clay." Nobody knew how he was going to play after such a long hiatus. Of course he emphatically showed everyone his form a few weeks later in the RG final, but the little guy beating Rafa in straights raised some eyebrows.

StrongRule · Dec 5, 2020

BeatlesFan said:
I'm going with an unconventional pick: Diego beating Rafa in Rome this year. Rafa is 34, coming back from the lockdown, skipped a slam to prepare for clay and was obviously highly motivated to show the field, "I'm still a factor on clay." Nobody knew how he was going to play after such a long hiatus. Of course he emphatically showed everyone his form a few weeks later in the RG final, but the little guy beating Rafa in straights raised some eyebrows.

That was a GOAT performance from Schwartzman. It's good that Nadal got a chance for a revenge in RG semifinal though.

MichaelNadal · Dec 5, 2020

StrongRule said:
That was a GOAT performance from Schwartzman. It's good that Nadal got a chance for a revenge in RG semifinal though.

Ate him up like the cute lil nugget he is.

Red Rick · Dec 5, 2020

Wanna say Fognini but it's probably Thiem 2017.

Not Djoking the Tsitsipas one left me thinking Roddick could have won that.

BackhandDTL · Dec 5, 2020

BeatlesFan said:
I'm going with an unconventional pick: Diego beating Rafa in Rome this year. Rafa is 34, coming back from the lockdown, skipped a slam to prepare for clay and was obviously highly motivated to show the field, "I'm still a factor on clay." Nobody knew how he was going to play after such a long hiatus. Of course he emphatically showed everyone his form a few weeks later in the RG final, but the little guy beating Rafa in straights raised some eyebrows.

Granollers would have beaten that version of Nadal.

ADuck · Dec 5, 2020

StrongRule said:
That was a GOAT performance from Schwartzman. It's good that Nadal got a chance for a revenge in RG semifinal though.

I'm surprised that you admit this? I thought you'd say that Nadal played like 2015 or something.

King No1e · Dec 5, 2020

Nole Slam said:
Djokovic RG 2020 final in my dream last night.

Too real

StrongRule · Dec 5, 2020

ADuck said:
I'm surprised that you admit this? I thought you'd say that Nadal played like 2015 or something.

Why should I say what is not true? Nadal could play better, but he wasn't terrible. (unlike in MC and Madrid 2019)

Third Serve · Dec 5, 2020

StrongRule said:
Why should I say what is not true? Nadal could play better, but he wasn't terrible. (unlike in MC and Madrid 2019)

Yes, why would you?

StrongRule said:
Nadal has no chance in RG. The first player who can rally owns him, as you see...I mean, Schwartzman has a weak serve and Nadal can't do ANYTHING on return.

StrongRule · Dec 5, 2020

Third Serve said:
Yes, why would you?

Nadal's return has been trash for a long time now. There is no prime Nadal anymore. But he wasn't in the garbage mode of the 2019 clay season.

socallefty · Dec 5, 2020

Fognini - it was a Monte Carlo semifinal where Nadal is almost unbeatable. Plus if my failing memory is right, I think he had a point to bagel him and blew it before recovering to win the set.

Rafa4LifeEver · Dec 6, 2020

Mainad said:
I went for Fognini. It's almost impossible to get past Nadal at Monte Carlo (his 2nd most successful event after RG) especially when he gets to the semis (Murray tried it 3 times at the same stage but could never do it).

Murray had a real shot in 2016 but The warrior was absolutely determined.

StrongRule · Dec 6, 2020

socallefty said:
Fognini - it was a Monte Carlo semifinal where Nadal is almost unbeatable. Plus if my failing memory is right, I think he had a point to bagel him and blew it before recovering to win the set.

Lol, "almost unbeatable". Nadal played arguably the worst claycourt match of his career. (and he also said that himself)

Third Serve · Dec 6, 2020

Red Rick said:
Wanna say Fognini but it's probably Thiem 2017.

Not Djoking the Tsitsipas one left me thinking Roddick could have won that.

lol that was indeed a very craptastic match from Nads.

Shaolin · Dec 6, 2020

Schwartzman because he is no bigger than the racquet bag which makes it a way bigger feat.

BackhandDTL · Dec 6, 2020

Shaolin said:
Schwartzman because he is no bigger than the racquet bag which makes it a way bigger feat.

Baghdatis and Philippousis would have also beaten that version of Nadal.

UnforcedTerror · Dec 6, 2020

Thiem's victory was the biggest but Schwartzman's level was something else, best performance of his career.

Deleted member 770948 · Dec 6, 2020

I don't count 2019 as legit results, because Nadal's team didn't let him practice his defense in January (recovering from ankle surgery), so it took a while to get his game in order, and it cost him in the clay season (SF exits at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid).
Playing without defense was more possible on hardcourt (as long as he didn't face someone who made him defend - Djokovic was the only player to expose the lack of defense), but you can't even beat Tsitsipas clay without defense.

Which player has had the most impressive victory over Rafael Nadal on clay in the 2017-2020 period?

Which performance was the most sensational against the clay GOD?

Thiem Rome 2017 QF

Thiem Madrid 2018 QF

Fognini Monte Carlo 2019 SF

Thiem Barcelona 2019 SF

Tsitsipas Madrid 2019 SF

Schwartzman Rome 2020 QF

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