Rafael Nadal is the greatest clay-court male tennis player of all time, holding an unequaled seven French Open titles. He has played 53 matches at Roland Garros and has lost exactly once, in the fourth round 2009 to Robin Soderling, who reached the finals and was defeated by Roger Federer in straight sets, giving Federer his only French Open title.
Like Federer, the still-active Nadal still has the chance to be considered the best ever, but to do that he’s got to win the U.S. Open and the Australian Open more than once. If he were to do that, even if he doesn’t end up with more grand slam titles than Federer, he would leapfrog Federer in the rankings. What’s more, he’d become the greatest ever, because to do it he’d have to win at least two grand slam titles on three different surfaces, something that neither Roy Emerson nor Rod Laver managed to accomplish.
Nadal is placed ahead of Pete Sampras, who has significantly more total grand slam titles, because Nadal holds the career slam. Sampras never won the French Open despite many attempts, but Nadal has won all four slams.
The Greatest Tennis Players of All Time 
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