French Open, the most unique one of them all

So Rafael Nadal has won yet another French Open, his 7th. Thus he has gone past Bjorn Borg as the man with the most Musketeers' Cups. Only one other man, Pete Sampras, has won 7 Grand Slams at a particular venue (Wimbledon). Only one other tennis player, Chris Evert, has won 7 French Opens In the process, Rafa also stopped Novak Djokovic's quest for holding all 4 Grand Slams together, like he did to Roger Federer in 2006 and 2007. He himself failed in the Australian Open 2011 to achieve the same feat, thus keeping Rod Laver and Don Budge's record intact So what makes Rafa click on the red clay of Rolland Garros? (Remember he has failed to win at the blue clay of Madrid Open, losing to compatriot Fernando Verdasco for the first time in their head to head career). Not that he is a bad player on other surfaces, having won all the other Grand Slams at least once, also winning a Olympic Singles Gold and Davis Cup - but on clay he is simply unstoppable Similar is the case with a quite a few players who had otherwise unremarkable or moderate careers on other surfaces, but shone on the red dirt of Rolland Garros - Bruguera, Kuerten, Muster, Ferrero,Moya even one of the greatest of them all Ivan Lendl (who said "Grass is for cows to graze" and never won a Wimbledon much to his regret). On the other hand, there has been several "greats" - Sampras and Courier prime examples, who have failed to make an impression of clay. 2 men - Agassi and Federer, did win on clay, but it had more to do with their "tennis grey matter", rather than their mastery of the surface. (And there are unknown quantities like Gaston Gaudio, whose only claim to fame is a single Grand Slam on clay) What makes certain players click on clay, others abject failures on the same surface? What makes players of Spanish origin, on both sides of the Atlantic masters of the surface? Why is Rolland Garros so different? Till the 70s, Tennis was played only with wooden racquets. It was a game of skill, perseverance, long rallies, out thinking your opponent, a game of grace and class. Then the metal racquets started coming in - and with it innovations - the "serve and volley" games, quick points, more aces, shorter matches. Grand Slams other than the French Open, played on clay, shifted to faster surfaces - the hard courts, cement and plastic courts. The balance of power shifted from the Australians (Laver, Roche, Newcombe) to the Americans (McEnroe, later Sampras, Agassi etc). The rise of the Nick Bolitieri system of coaching which encouraged hard court specialists became another reason why focus shifted to making the matches shorter The French Open almost became a outlier. Here the courts remained slow, the ball took in more spin, and serve and volley meant nothing. Players who had the stamina to play long matches, play long rallies from the baseline thrived on the surface. And they were usually were not trained in the American way. Gradually, from the last 80s, the Spanish school started to take over - slowing down the game, keep chugging at your opponent, tire him down and beat him - a combination of heavy physical, emotional and mental tennis. Bruguera, Guga Kuerten and Muster, to a lesser extent Andre Medvedev became masters of this style. Agassi, one of Bolitieri's proteges - however, still cracked the system - it was however, more to do with his tennis acumen and survival skills than anything. Sampras, undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time, failed to do so, and managed a semi final appearance as his best result Still, the French Open was the most competitive of all the Grand Slams in the 90s. Anybody who played with the above points in mind, did well. The 2000s was a different ball game together. The Spanish-origin players, both from Spain and Argentina, grew up on these surfaces, and it became a second nature to them. They were not averse to playing long rallies. The soil in their country matched that of France, thus giving them a feeling of home. Mentally they were at ease. Physically, they started to bulk up And ever since 2005, when 2 Spanish, one from Argentina and one from Spain, clashed in the final of Rolland Garros, there was no looking back. One of them, the winner that day, went on to becaome perhaps the best player on clay. His mates, Almagro, Ferrer and Verdasco began to look up to him However, in recent times, there has been signs that the Armada can be challenged. But it requires a certain exalted level of tennis, a lot of Bravado and some luck to challenge them, as evident in the latest edition by the Red Star from Belgrade. And this bodes well for Tennis