Who is the more successful athlete, Rafa Nadal on clay in tennis or Leo Messi in football?

Who is the more successful athlete?

  • Nadal in tennis (clay only)

    Votes: 77 77.0%

  • Messi in football (overall)

    Votes: 20 20.0%

  • 50/50

    Votes: 3 3.0%
  • Total voters
    100
M

Megafanoftennis100

Semi-Pro
Of course, if we were to compare Nadal's overall tennis career across all surfaces with Messi's football career, there is no question that Messi is a far more successful athlete.
In fact, Messi is a more successful athlete than any of the Big 3 of tennis in terms of level of play & career achievements. Prime Messi in football > 2006 Federer, 2011 Djokovic

However, in this comparison, we are looking exclusively at Nadal's achievements on clay. And in that case, who was the more successful athlete?
 
The Blond Blur

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
rafa-rafael-nadal.gif

RAFA on clay is in a league of his own, buds.

That being said Leo is still the GOAT footballer, and no you can’t change my mind.
 
ChaelAZ

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
There is too much team dynamic in soccer to compare to a singular sports like tennis. But Nadal's absolutely staggering success and stats at RG, and on clay overall are among the most elite sports records ever. Something like over 500 clay matches in over 18 years of play and less than 50 losses, or something like that. The highest winning percentage on a surface every, and by a far margin.

#EpicAF
#GOAT
 
AO13

AO13

Hall of Fame
Messi, lol. If it wasn't for Iniesta and Xavi in midfield and genius Guardiola's tika taka he wouldn't win a single Champions League trophy. Not to mention other superstars like Henry, Puyol, Pique, Eto'o, Sergio Busquets, Mascherano and later likes of Suarez and Neymar. False GOAT, both he and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Pele, Maradona, original Ronaldo, Zidane, Cruyff. Gods of football.​
 
RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
I don't follow soccer (futbol) closely, and it's also hard to compare team to individual sports.

A. Within their Sports:

I'll ask this - while looking at all of Nadal's career, not just clay. Almost all tennis fans would consider Rafa to be top 3 in the OE. Is Messi top 3 of the last 55 years? Most would probably say "yes". I don't know how to compare him with the usual names.

B. More Famous:

It may not factor in, but I'm sure that Messi is more recognizable worldwide. Which only means that soccer is bigger and, arguably, harder for Messi to get to that status.

C. Supposition - This is speculative and perhaps meaningless, but...
My guess is that if they played each other's sport, Rafa would have been a pro at some level. Messi???
 
Razer

Razer

Legend
Messi is richer than Federer who is richer than Nadal
Messi has more fans than Federer who has more fans than Nadal
Messi is probably a better athlete than Nadal
Messi is considered to be more skilled in his sport than Nadal

So this means Messi is superior to Nadal

Not just Messi, even Cristiano Ronaldo is superior to Rafael Nadal.
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Team players can never be compared to singles players IMO. Messi had a team to help him win his matches. Nadal achieved what he did on court all by himself. End of!
 
Razer

Razer

Legend
Poll is wrongly framed...... There is no Nadal on Clay vs Messi in football

Actual comparison is Nadal in Tennis vs Messi in Football ...... and in that Messi wins comprehensively.
 
BauerAlmeida

BauerAlmeida

Hall of Fame
Kralingen said:
Messi’s reputation is heavily carried by that Qatari World Cup. Don’t look up his CL performance in the 2010s. Or the year he got outscored by Harold Kane.
Click to expand...

Lol, Messi was considered GOAT by tons of coaches and players way before the World Cup.

He was the best player in the first CL of the decade in 2011 and the last one in 2019.

Nothing wrong in being outscored by Kane who is a striker and one of the best in the world at that. He was the top scorer of the year once so literally everyone was outscored by him.
 
Razer

Razer

Legend
Messi, Maradona and Pele have something in common with Federer, Borg and Laver.

They all were the most popular icons of their sport in their time.

I don't think Nadal is comparable at all, the only tennis player who can rival Messi is Federer himself. Both are the biggest brands in their sport (Billionaires) and have been considered GOATs in their sport too at the some point of time....
 
H

helterskelter

G.O.A.T.
GabeT said:
I’m a member of the “Messi is the GOAT soccer player” club but Nadal wins this. There are others who have claims to be soccer GOATs. But no one has a claim to be greater than Nadal on clay.
Click to expand...

Who, in your view, is the GOAT throwsphere player? [I don't follow it myself - it's as dull as watching almost dry paint finish drying - so have no knowledge to share on the subject].
 
R

rigged

Rookie
Well, no one can deny that Nadal was the best player in each of the clay tournaments he won. However, a lot of Messi's titles (not only individual, but also the team ones) are too controversial.
 
Razer

Razer

Legend
anarosevoli said:
You can compare anything you like.
Click to expand...

Success for a sportsman is determined by

01. Fans & Influence
02. Money/Brand Value
03. Personal achievements on the court
04. Miscellaneous factors other than these 3 which are of low priority compared to the first 3 factors...

So if we are comparing Messi's success in Football then it has to be compared with Nadal's success in Tennis. Roland Garros alone is not the way to compare.

The term SUCCESS is a broad term. You could argue that Federer is more successful than Djokovic as a sportsman overall even though Djokovic is more successful than Federer on the tennis court. The term SUCCESS is not limited to the court, it is overall.
 
Last edited:
BauerAlmeida

BauerAlmeida

Hall of Fame
Razer said:
Messi, Maradona and Pele have something in common with Federer, Borg and Laver.

They all were the most popular icons of their sport in their time.

I don't think Nadal is comparable at all, the only tennis player who can rival Messi is Federer himself. Both are the biggest brands in their sport (Billionaires) and have been considered GOATs in their sport too at the some point of time....
Click to expand...

Maradona was like Borg, they transcended the sport and were huge pop culture icons. Maradona was as well-known as the Pope or Michael Jackson in the '80s.
 
BauerAlmeida

BauerAlmeida

Hall of Fame
rigged said:
Well, no one can deny that Nadal was the best player in each of the clay tournaments he won. However, a lot of Messi's titles (not only individual, but also the team ones) are too controversial.
Click to expand...

Team titles are not controversial, they are won on the pitch.

Individual awards will always be controversial because it's a team sport.

Nonetheless, it's impossible to draw a comparison between a player in a team sport and one in an individual sport. And even more when you make it surface-specific.


I would say Messi is more dominant in football than Nadal in tennis (8 BdO vs 5 YE1) but Nadal on clay is more dominant than Messi in football. He was the best player in the world on clay for what? 13 years? Give or take.
 
R

rigged

Rookie
BauerAlmeida said:
Team titles are not controversial, they are won on the pitch.

Individual awards will always be controversial because it's a team sport.

Nonetheless, it's impossible to draw a comparison between a player in a team sport and one in an individual sport. And even more when you make it surface-specific.


I would say Messi is more dominant in football than Nadal in tennis (8 BdO vs 5 YE1) but Nadal on clay is more dominant than Messi in football. He was the best player in the world on clay for what? 13 years? Give or take.
Click to expand...

I don't really know about that. UCL 2009 semifinal and whole World cup 2022 were more about referee decisions than the team effort.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RS
GabeT

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
what if we compare just one aspect of Messi’s game to Nadal on clay. Like Messi’s dribbling and passing. I’m not sure what I’d vote in that case
 
BauerAlmeida

BauerAlmeida

Hall of Fame
rigged said:
I don't really know about that. UCL 2009 semifinal and whole World cup 2022 were more about referee decisions than the team effort.
Click to expand...

WC 2022 hardly had any referee decisions worth mentioning. This is during the VAR era so matches are very unlikely to have big refereeing mistakes.


UCL 2009 had some dodgy refereeing but they are bound to happen in a 15-year-long career to anyone.
 
H

helterskelter

G.O.A.T.
GabeT said:
You mean basketball?
Click to expand...

No, basketball uses a ball and a basket. I guess it should be called throwelongatedsphere or throwprolatespheroid. Some call it handegg. (I'm not a huge fan of basketball as a spectator sport, but not because it's too slow - throwsphere is much too slow. Basketball tends to be too fast-paced, at least at pro level. It's sort of the equivalent of a contemporary action film, which should really be called an explosions film). Basketball is fun to play. And I did enjoy attending some college games, back in the day. Though of the big American sports, I prefer baseball as a spectator sport. Anyway, this post could be called "spot the curmudgeonly old British ex-pat."
 
Phenomenal

Phenomenal

Professional
I know it's nonsense but Messi in Barcelona vs Nadal on clay would be more appropriate. Or Messi only at club level.
 
_phantom

_phantom

Hall of Fame
Since Messi doesn't have a full-size statue (anymore) Nadal takes the win here.
nintchdbpict000370969840.jpg

(allegedly taken away by Ronaldo's counterintelligence squad)
 
M

Megafanoftennis100

Semi-Pro
I think both athletes have strong arguments:

Messi: football is much more difficult than tennis. In football, you need to be able to meticulously control and move the ball with utmost precision and at a very high speed too. Not to mention that you can only use your feet to do so, making direction control extremely challenging. You need incredible skill and athleticism to be able to compete at a professional level in football.
Whereas tennis is simply swinging a lightweight racket to hit balls to wherever you want. Just move your feet and strike the ball continuously, bam, bam, bam, and then, the person who hits harder and makes fewer errors wins, simple as that. It barely requires any skill to be able to compete at a professional level in tennis. Also, judging by the state of the current era in tennis, winning a Slam has become much easier than, e.g. in the early-mid 2010s or even the 2000s.

Nadal: even though tennis is much easier and barely requires skill, 112-3 & 14 titles at Roland Garros, along with 26 Masters on clay, are simply otherwordly dominance. Not to mention the number of times he won RG without dropping a. single. set.
His success on clay is overwhelmingly great that we cannot take him out of the conversation just yet.
 
M

Megafanoftennis100

Semi-Pro
RS said:
Football being much more difficult than tennis is certainly a debate. There are just different skillsets.
Click to expand...
I dedicated 3x more effort to football than I do to tennis, but I was still very bad at football. It's always been too hard to improve. Whereas I was already playing at a semi-pro level in tennis after 6 years of training.
I actually regret putting too much effort into football when I was young. Had I invested this much effort into tennis, I am confident that I would be competing at the Slams against the likes of Djokovic, Sinner and Alcaraz right now instead of writing on TTW.
 
RS

RS

Bionic Poster
Megafanoftennis100 said:
I dedicated 3x more effort to football than I do to tennis, but I was still very bad at football. It's always been too hard to improve. Whereas I was already playing at a semi-pro level in tennis after 6 years of training.
I actually regret putting too much effort into football when I was young. Had I invested this much effort into tennis, I am confident that I would be competing at the Slams against the likes of Djokovic, Sinner and Alcaraz right now instead of writing on TTW.
Click to expand...
I was never really good at either but probably better at tennis I wasn't that bad at tennis at all.

Still it depends on the person and the circumstances. Making it at a high level in tennis has the odds stacked against you as well.
 
RS

RS

Bionic Poster
In tennis all you have to is look at the number of slam winners you have let alone multi slam winners let alone double figures.
 
anarosevoli

anarosevoli

Semi-Pro
Razer said:
Success for a sportsman is determined by

01. Fans & Influence
02. Money/Brand Value
03. Personal achievements on the court
04. Miscellaneous factors other than these 3 which are of low priority compared to the first 3 factors...

So if we are comparing Messi's success in Football then it has to be compared with Nadal's success in Tennis. Roland Garros alone is not the way to compare.

The term SUCCESS is a broad term. You could argue that Federer is more successful than Djokovic as a player overall even though Djokovic is more successful than Federer on the court. The term SUCCESS is not limited to the court, it is overall.
Click to expand...
You can easily compare Nadal on clay and Messi in football. It just doesn't answer the only question that your little brain seems to be able to see (which is if Nadal or Messi is a better sportsman). Just read first post!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Entername
  • Poll
Has Djokovic become a clearer GOAT in tennis than Messi and Jordan in their sports?
8 9 10
Replies
462
Views
10K
RS
RS
M
Who is the best athlete in men's tennis?
Replies
13
Views
1K
SystemicAnomaly
SystemicAnomaly
clayqueen
Is Nadal the greatest athlete in history?
2 3 4
Replies
160
Views
3K
SonnyT
S
HunterST
NFL player gave up tennis, turned to football for financial reasons. Top 400 must be paid more.
2
Replies
65
Views
3K
torpantennis
T
HunterST
NFL player gave up tennis, turned to football for financial reasons. Top 400 must be paid more.
Replies
6
Views
433
Bobby Jr
Bobby Jr
Top