Rafael Nadal losing on clay is not a sight that fans ever got used to seeing until he retired last year.
Nadal said farewell at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, losing his final match to Botic van de Zandschulp.
This brought an end to his decorated 23-year career, that included Nadal winning 14 Roland Garros titles.
Nadal’s dominance on clay was evident in 2007, when he headed into the Hamburg Open final against Roger Federer on an 81-match winning streak.
What Roger Federer gave Rafael Nadal after ending his 81-match winning streak on clay
After beating Lleyton Hewitt, Nadal reached the final of the 2007 Hamburg Open and extended his winning streak on clay to 81 matches.
This record-breaking run began back in April 2005, with Nadal’s last loss on clay coming against Igor Andreev in Valencia.
Nadal had won 13 titles as a result of his winning streak, that includes two victories at Roland Garros.
Five of those 81 wins for Nadal came against Federer, including the final of the Monte Carlo Masters just the week before, but the Hamburg Open was where it all came to an end.
After losing the first set, Federer fought back to beat Nadal, 2-6 6-2 6-0, to get his first win over the Spaniard on clay.
Despite the disappointment of seeing his historic run come to an end, Nadal claimed that he was not sad and praised world number one Federer.
“If I have to lose against anyone, then he is the man,” said Nadal “I am not sad to lose to the best in the world.”
Although Nadal was unable to get his hands on the Hamburg Open that day, he did not come away empty handed.
After the match in the locker room, Nadal asked Federer for a signed shirt that the Swiss provided him with.
When speaking about this some time after the final, Nadal revealed what Federer wrote on the shirt when speaking on Spanish radio station Cope.
“When Federer beat me in Hamburg in 2007, he ended my 81-match winning streak on clay,” said Nadal. “After the final, I asked him if he could sign his shirt and I could keep it as a souvenir. On that shirt, he wrote, ’81, congrats on an unbelievable and unreachable record, Roger’.”
A similar thing happened to the Spaniard 17 years later, as Nadal gave Pedro Cachin his shirt at the Madrid Open in 2024.
What happened the next time that Rafael Nadal played Roger Federer?
It would not be long until Nadal and Federer went head-to-head once again, which was in-fact at their next tournament, Roland Garros.
Nadal had reached his third consecutive Roland Garros final without dropping a set, while Federer had only lost one set against Tommy Robredo in the quarter-finals.
After the disappointment of losing the Hamburg Open final, Nadal was able to get revenge over Federer and beat him in the Roland Garros final for a second consecutive year.
Federer was a 10-time Grand Slam champion at this point in his career, but was still missing an elusive Roland Garros title.
Although he was pleased for himself, Nadal admitted that he felt sorry for Federer after he could not complete the Career Grand Slam.
“I’m sorry for Roger because he lost [for the] second time here the final,” Nadal said. “It was a big chance for him to win the four Grand Slams.
“Three Grand Slams is a dream. When I started the season in Australia, I can’t imagine this moment. I’m very, very happy about my game.”
Nadal would beat Federer in three clay court finals in 2008, including Roland Garros and getting revenge in Hamburg.
After Nadal suffered a shock defeat to Robin Soderling at Roland Garros in 2009, Federer was finally able to lift the elusive major title.
