Grigor Dimitrov reveals Rafael Nadal’s reaction to being asked for clay court advice
Nadal built his legend on clay courts, picking up an incredible 14 French Open titles over his career.
He wasn’t just a force at Roland Garros, either. His nine straight Monte Carlo Masters wins between 2005 and 2014 made him just as difficult to stop there.
But despite his dominance, Nadal was reluctant to offer tips when Grigor Dimitrov asked him about playing on clay back in 2022.
Rafael Nadal responds to Grigor Dimitrov’s coaching request
Dimitrov has never looked at home on clay, and his recent defeat to Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Monte-Carlo Masters will drop him out of the top 100.
Back in 2022, during a live stream with Nadal on FanJolt, Dimitrov asked the King of Clay to help him on the surface.
During a live stream with Nadal on FanJolt back in 2022, Dimitrov brought up the topic: “Okay, how about this? Hypothetically, you’re done with your career, let’s say in ten years. I will call you and say, ‘Rafa, can you come with me for three clay-court tournaments?”
Nadal laughed it off at first: “I’m very expensive, man.”
Dimitrov played along: “I’ll pay for two tournaments and the third one, you do for free.”
Eventually, Nadal seemed open to the idea of coaching Dimitrov down the line. It hasn’t happened yet.
Nadal said: “You know I’m there. I don’t know if I will be able to help but of course, I’m going to put everything that I have to help.
Grigor Dimitrov’s only clay court title
Dimitrov has spent 18 years on the ATP Tour, since making his debut during the 2008 season as a 17-year-old.
The Bulgarian’s career has brought nine titles, but only one of them has come on his least favourite surface.
Dimitrov won the 2014 Romanian Open, an ATP 250 event where he was the number one seed and a wild card.
The then-23-year-old defeated Lukáš Rosol, Gael Monfils, Sergiy Stakhovsky, and Jiří Veselý to win the Romanian tournament.
Dimitrov has reached two more clay court finals, in Istanbul and Geneva, but he was beaten by Diego Schwartzman and Nicolas Jarry.
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