Who else managed to win the French Open during the Rafael Nadal era?

When discussing the French Open, one name inevitably stands out above all others—Rafael Nadal. The Spanish maestro defined brilliance on the famed clay courts of Roland-Garros, achieving what many thought was impossible. Between 2005 and 2023, the Mallorca-born star racked up an astonishing 14 titles, the most anyone has ever won at any of the four Grand Slams.

However, this year the Parisian showdown will look much different following Nadal’s retirement from the sport late in 2024. With the King of Clay out of the picture, online sports betting sites are scrambling as they attempt to figure out who will step up in the 14-time champ’s absence. The latest sports betting at Bovada odds currently makes reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz the favourite to retain his title, pricing him at +150 to get the job done in the French capital once again.

Whether he follows in his compatriot’s footsteps and goes on a dominant streak of his own remains to be seen. But one thing that is for certain is that he will have his work cut out if he is to catch up the almighty haul of titles that his predecessor racked up.

The King of Clay

Nadal’s French love affair began in 2005 when he bulldozed through the tournament to win his first title as a 19-year-old debutant. His game was perfectly crafted for clay – heavy topspin, cat-like footwork, unrelenting determination, and an almost supernatural ability to defend and counter-attack. All of that and more was crucial in the Spaniard building an unstoppable dynasty.

Between that maiden triumph and his ninth championship in 2014, Nadal lost just once. That was a shocking fourth-round defeat to unheralded Swede Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009. His dominance faded somewhat through the latter half of the 2010s, winning “just” five titles between 2015 and 2022, taking his total haul to a whopping 14. But which players were able to take the trophy away from him in the years where he wasn’t on the top of his game?

Roger Federer

Roger Federer is one of the greatest players of all time, but for most of his career, the French Open had eluded him. Clay was never his most favoured surface, and every time he made a deep run at Roland-Garros, Nadal was there to stop him, including in the final in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Many said that Federer could never be considered the G.O.A.T. unless he won in Paris, and in 2009, the door opened. With Nadal shockingly losing for the first time in five years to the aforementioned Soderling, the eight-time Wimbledon champion finally had an opportunity, and he would seize the moment. He beat home favourite Gael Monfils in the quarters, before outlasting Juan Martin del Potro in a five-set thriller in the semi-finals.

Finally, he had a date with destiny, and he had to beat the man that Nadal couldn’t, if he was to emerge victorious. Ultimately, he was up to the task. Federer beat Soderling in four sets, claiming his first and only French Open title in the process.

Stan Wawrinka

By 2015, Rafael Nadal’s supremacy on clay was solidified, but he was no longer invincible. That was proven by Soderling six years prior, but that remained the Spaniard’s only defeat in the French capital in a decade. Following his loss to the Swede, he embarked upon a 39-match winning run that took him to another four straight titles, but it was all about to come crashing down once more.

That year, Novak Djokovic finally ended Nadal’s astounding winning streak, downing him in straight sets in the quarter-finals. But the mercurial Serb couldn’t get the job done. Instead, it was Stan Wawrinka who would claim the title, his second-ever Grand Slam. The Swiss star dropped the first set but rallied to win the next three, ending Nole’s hopes of winning all four Slams in a calendar year.

Novak Djokovic

While Djokovic may have fallen short in his quest to claim his first French Open in 2015, the following year, he would make no mistake. He took full advantage of Nadal missing the tournament through injury to claim his maiden crown, defeating Andy Murray in the final to secure the gold. But it was his triumph in 2021 that meant the most.

Heading into that year’s French Open, Djokovic and Nadal were locked in a battle to be the official greatest of all time. The former was on 19 Slam titles, with his Spanish rival ahead of him by just one. Playing on his preferred surface, many expected the King of Clay to pull clear in the G.O.A.T. race.

Nole had other ideas. Despite being the underdog, he beat Nadal by three sets to one in the semi-finals, before going on to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, from two sets to love down. Two years later, he added a third title as he beat Casper Ruud in straight sets, securing his legacy as the very best the sport has ever seen at Nadal’s expense.