Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
Rafael Nadal rides onto the dusty fields of red clay astride a gaudy 62-match winning streak that, his fans have every right to assume, is not in imminent danger. Nadal won all 26 matches he played on clay last year, and if he had played 24 more he probably would have won 50. The streak has invited frequent
comparisons between Nadal and Guillermo Vilas -- the Argentina native whose record (53 in a row, set in 1977) he shattered -- and this both unjust and a pity.
The real bar for Nadal was set by Bjorn Borg.
Some astute fans have pointed out that Vilas never met Borg while compiling his streak. As reader Omar Savoy, a Borg fan wrote: " … The only reason Vilas even had that streak was because Borg spent most of 1977 playing World Team Tennis and thus skipped all the important clay court tournaments that year …"
While you can't hold it against Vilas that Borg chose to frolic on a multi-colored court while playing 20-second, no-ad, WTT matches for too much of 1977, a quick check of the head-to-head record is telling. Borg played Vilas twice on clay in the spring of 1977, shortly before The Streak. He hammered Willy at Nice, losing a set but winning the best-of-five encounter 6-0 in the fourth. And Vilas teased just five games out of Borg at Monte Carlo. The next time they met was late in 1978, on indoor carpet (Borg won that match in straight sets). The only time Vilas beat Borg on clay before Nice was in the final of Buenos Aires in '73, but in that one Borg retired in the fourth set.
The record is a little sketchy ("surface" is not always available) but going into Nice, Borg was 9-4 against Vilas; BA appears to have been the only Vilas victory on clay. No matter. The record underscores the idea that the man Nadal is chasing through tennis history is Borg.
This rings true from various perspectives, for Nadal is the first clay-court player since Borg to bring certain qualities back to the clay fray: great speed combined with a superior, explosive, athletic ability; (Vilas was a grinder while Borg was a gazelle who mimicked a grinder to whatever extent was necessary); a willingness to open up the court with probing placements, secure in the knowledge that he can run down any dangerous riposte; and the ability to play every point in the fourth of five gears (Vilas was a tank, Borg a sports car).
Forget Vilas' streak, here are some numbers for Nadal to contemplate, courtesy of Omar:
• From 1977 through the 1980 French Open, Borg was 95-3 on clay (two of those losses were via default).
• Days after turning 20 years old in 1976, Borg lost in the French Open quarterfinals to Adriano Panatta. That would be the last time Borg lost a match at Roland Garros, going 28-0 from 1978-81. (He did not play the French in 1977.)
• Borg was 49-2 in his career at Roland Garros, with both losses coming to Panatta.
Good luck, Rafa! You certainly will need it.
Join Peter Bodo's next chat on ESPN.com, Wednesday, April 18 at 1 p.m. ET.
