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Rafael Nadal
Born
Rafael Nadal's clay game rested on one pattern: a left-handed forehand with extreme topspin, hit high to a right-hander's backhand until the reply dropped short. Add relentless sliding defence and the fact that he never seemed to tire, and the result was 14 French Open titles and a record at Roland Garros of 112 wins and four defeats. It is the clearest example of a style built to exploit a surface.
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Björn Borg
Born
Björn Borg brought heavy topspin and a two-handed backhand to the top of the game in the 1970s, and on clay he simply would not miss. He stood well behind the baseline, rolled the ball deep and waited for errors, winning the French Open six times. Remarkably, he also won Wimbledon five times in a row, which shows that a clay-court base can travel if the player adapts.
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Chris Evert
Chris Evert played clay with precision rather than spin: flat, deep groundstrokes, a two-handed backhand and almost no unforced errors. Between 1973 and 1979 she won 125 consecutive matches on clay, the longest winning streak on a single surface in the Open era, and she won the French Open seven times. For club players her matches are a lesson in depth and patience.
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Guillermo Vilas
Born
Guillermo Vilas was a left-hander with heavy topspin on both sides and extraordinary fitness, who could stay in rallies for as long as it took. In 1977 he won the French Open and the US Open, which was then played on clay at Forest Hills, and put together a 46-match winning streak. He won more than 60 tour titles, most of them on clay, and helped make Argentina a clay-court nation.
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Thomas Muster
Born
Thomas Muster was a left-handed grinder who overpowered opponents physically on clay, with heavy topspin and a fitness regime that became famous. In 1989 a drunk driver hit him in Key Biscayne and damaged his knee; he came back, trained seated with his leg in a brace, and in 1995 won the French Open as part of a season of dozens of clay-court wins in a row. He briefly became world number one in 1996.
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Gustavo Kuerten
Born
Gustavo Kuerten won on clay with loose, long swings and big angles rather than grinding. His one-handed backhand down the line and his forehand from the corners opened the court in a way few clay players managed. Unseeded and ranked 66th, he won the 1997 French Open, then won again in 2000 and 2001, drawing a heart in the clay after saving a match point on the way to his third title.
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Sergi Bruguera
Born
Sergi Bruguera hit with an extreme western forehand grip and some of the heaviest topspin of the 1990s, sending the ball high over the net and deep. The approach was built for slow clay, where it won him the French Open in 1993, beating Jim Courier in the final, and again in 1994. His style was a precursor of the heavy-spin game that dominates clay today.
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Mats Wilander
Born
Mats Wilander won the 1982 French Open at 17 with tactical patience that seemed beyond his years, changing pace and height until opponents lost their rhythm. He added Roland Garros titles in 1985 and 1988, and his 1988 season, with three majors, showed how well clay-court thinking could transfer to hard courts. His matches are a study in point construction rather than power.
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Manuel Orantes
Born
Manuel Orantes was a left-handed touch player who won with lobs, angles and soft changes of pace rather than heavy spin. His best-known win is the 1975 US Open, played on clay at Forest Hills, where he saved match points in the semi-final and then beat Jimmy Connors in straight sets in the final by refusing to give him pace. He also reached the 1974 French Open final.
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Carlos Moyá
Born
Carlos Moyá built points around one of the biggest forehands of the late 1990s, running round his backhand to hit inside-out from the middle of the court. That more aggressive clay style won him the 1998 French Open and made him, in 1999, the first Spanish man to reach world number one. He later coached Rafael Nadal, passing on a clay-court tradition he had helped to modernise.
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Juan Carlos Ferrero
Born
Juan Carlos Ferrero, nicknamed the Mosquito for his speed and slight frame, moved beautifully on clay and hit a fast, flat forehand from close to the baseline. He won the 2003 French Open and reached world number one later that year. As a coach he shaped Carlos Alcaraz, whose clay game borrows the same quick feet and willingness to attack.
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Guillermo Coria
Born
Guillermo Coria was the drop-shot artist of the early 2000s clay game. Small and very quick, he would pull opponents into the net with disguised drop shots and then pass or lob them, a pattern that won him the 2004 Monte Carlo Masters and a long unbeaten run on clay. He reached the 2004 French Open final as favourite, then lost it from two sets up, and injuries and serving problems followed.
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Gastón Gaudio
Born
Gastón Gaudio had a flowing one-handed backhand and a nervy temperament, which made him one of the most unpredictable clay players of his time. Unseeded at the 2004 French Open, he beat Guillermo Coria in the final after losing the first two sets and saving two match points. It remains one of the great comebacks at Roland Garros and a reminder that clay leaves time for a match to turn.
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Justine Henin
Born
Justine Henin played clay as an all-court player: heavy topspin, a sliced and driven one-handed backhand, and frequent trips to the net to finish points. Against more powerful opponents she won with variety and footwork. She won the French Open four times, including three in a row from 2005 to 2007, and her matches show how much a mix of spins can achieve on a slow court.
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Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Born
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was the defensive specialist of women's clay tennis in her era. She chased everything, slid into the corners and returned balls that seemed lost, slowly turning matches into contests of endurance. She won the French Open three times, beating Steffi Graf in the 1989 final, Mary Pierce in 1994 and Monica Seles in 1998.
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Conchita Martínez
Born
Conchita Martínez combined heavy topspin forehands with a sliced one-handed backhand, changing height and pace to keep opponents guessing. Clay was her best surface: she won the Italian Open four years running, from 1993 to 1996. Surprisingly, her one Grand Slam singles title came on grass at Wimbledon in 1994, where she beat Martina Navratilova in the final.
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Francesca Schiavone
Born
Francesca Schiavone brought a men's-style clay game to the women's tour: heavy topspin forehands, a high-kicking one-handed backhand, slice and frequent net approaches. At almost 30 she won the 2010 French Open, the first Grand Slam singles title for an Italian woman, and she reached the final again in 2011. Her matches show how varied clay tennis can be.
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Sara Errani
Born
Sara Errani is proof that clay rewards craft over size. At 1.64 metres and with one of the weakest serves at the top level, she relied on heavy topspin, drop shots and sharp angles to move opponents around. She reached the 2012 French Open final and a career high of fifth, and her doubles skills later brought Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 with Jasmine Paolini, at Roland Garros.
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Anastasia Myskina
Born
Anastasia Myskina was a counter-puncher who used angles and changes of direction rather than power. At the 2004 French Open she saved a match point against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round and went on to win the title, beating Elena Dementieva in the first all-Russian Grand Slam final. It made her the first Russian woman to win a major singles title.
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Iga Świątek
Born
Iga Świątek plays clay with a heavy, high-bouncing forehand that resembles Nadal's more than any other woman's, and she slides into both corners to keep attacking from defence. She won the French Open in 2020 without dropping a set, then in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and has also won the Italian Open several times. Her pattern of pushing opponents back before stepping in is the modern clay template.
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Dominic Thiem
Born
Dominic Thiem played clay from very deep, using the time to take enormous swings with heavy topspin off both wings, including a one-handed backhand. He beat Rafael Nadal on clay in three successive seasons, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and reached the French Open final in 2018 and 2019, losing both to Nadal. His physical, baseline-dominating style needed space, which clay gave him.
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Casper Ruud
Born
Casper Ruud builds clay points around a heavy topspin forehand, often running round his backhand to hit it inside-out, and he rarely gives away cheap errors. That consistency has brought him a long run of clay-court titles, French Open finals in 2022 and 2023 and the 2025 Madrid Open. He is a good model for club players who want a reliable, repeatable clay game.
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Nicolás Almagro
Born
Nicolás Almagro played clay as a power game: a heavy serve, a violent one-handed backhand and forehands struck to finish points early rather than to build them. Most of his 13 tour titles came on clay, and he reached three French Open quarter-finals. He is a useful contrast to the patient specialists on this list, showing that clay can also suit a first-strike style.
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