He beat Rafael Nadal in his last ever clay court final but only has three wins at the French Open

Rafael Nadal was one win away from adding a 64th clay court title to his record during the final season of his career.

Nadal currently holds an ATP record with 63 clay court titles, with only Chris Evert having won more tournaments on the surface.

His final title also came on clay, as he defeated Casper Ruud to win the French Open in 2022.

Nadal had another chance to add a title at the Swedish Open in 2024 but came up short in what turned out to be the last final of his career.

Nuno Borges defeated Rafael Nadal in the last clay court final

After an early exit at Roland-Garros, Nadal made his return to clay later in the year to get ready for the Paris Olympics.

His only tune-up event before the Games was the Swedish Open in Bastad, a tournament he had previously won back in 2005.

Despite a tough season filled with injuries, Nadal managed wins over Cameron Norrie and Leo Borg to reach his 131st career final — his 72nd on clay.

He had come out on top in 63 of those finals but fell short this time against Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who was making his debut appearance in an ATP final.

Borges looked sharp from start to finish, pulling off a 6-3, 6-2 win over one of the game’s greats. That result put him in rare company as one of only five players ever to beat Nadal in a clay court final.

Nadal wrapped up his career later that year at the Davis Cup Finals, capping off an incredible run that saw him win titles across three different decades and end with 92 trophies.

Borges’ best finish at a major is the fourth round

Despite winning his only ATP title on clay and being one of the few to defeat Nadal in a final on that surface, Borges has actually struggled at Roland Garros, holding a losing record at the event.

Borges has won just three of his seven matches played at the French Open, with two of those victories coming last year when he reached the third round – his best showing there to date.

His highest career ranking came after reaching the fourth round of the 2024 US Open. That run pushed him up to world number 30 in September of that year.

Borges has also made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open and is one of only two Portuguese players ever to reach the second week of a Grand Slam.

Since that win over Nadal in Bastad, Borges hasn’t returned to an ATP final and is currently ranked 48th in the world.

The start of 2026 hasn’t been kind either, as he’s lost 11 of his first 18 matches this season.

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