Greatest clay court player to never win a French Open

These Valencians are gutsy, aren't they? Valencia beat Real Madrid a few weeks before. Their football team is one of the most successful and respected teams in Spanish football history but they have another one who is equally respected in Spain and around the world, playing an altogether different sport. In the mix of things since 1999, David Ferrer has underachieved considering how good a player he was and there is no question about it. He managed to win 27 titles in his career and let's hope it's the icing on the cake and he takes his 28th title in Madrid. Most of his titles came on clay as he was at his best playing on the red soil. Naturally, born in Spain, playing on clay is a usual thing but what makes him special is the presence of so many great players around him. If him winning only 27 titles and not a single grand slam is an underachievement, on the other side of it, David winning as many as he did is staggering because he often found himself playing against Federer, Novak and be it is close friend but a tough opponent in Rafael Nadal. Nadal was the toughest opponent Ferrer ever faced on clay. He came up against Nadal 22 times on clay and managed beat him only twice. He never won a grand slam but he did reach final once in 2013. He was absolutely brilliant at Roland Garros in 2013. He reached the final without dropping a single set. On the way, he beat some very good players including his countryman Feliciano Lopez in the 3rd round and one of the strongest players of his generation, Jo- Wilfred Tsonga in the semi final. Nadal came on the back of a five set epic against the world number 1 at the time, Novak Djokovic. Nadal beat Ferrer in straight sets but that was probably the best David has ever played in his career. 2013 was the best year for him as far as grand slams are concerned. Apart from reaching the final in Paris, he also managed his best run in Australian open and Wimbledon as well, reaching the semi final and quarter final respectively. His record on clay court was better than all of his countrymen except Nadal. Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal were all friends and got along each other really well. That helped them a great deal in winning the Davis Cup 3 times between 2008 and 2012.
     His statistics are descent but he was a greater player than his numbers suggest. Not very tall, only 5'9", lean physique, not extraordinarily powerful but very gutsy and a smart tennis player, that's what he was. The game of tennis is about angles and that's what he played really well. He wasn't a big server but he managed to keep a good first serve percentage right through his career. A strong forehand and a descent backhand was enough for him to survive at the highest level. Though he wasn't very powerful, it looked as if he somehow managed to keep the ball in play and get it closer to the baseline. One of his major strengths was the less number of unforced errors he managed. He also had a very deceptive drop shot which many of them failed to read at first. But besides all of this, he had a tremendous mental strength and an incredible will to fight and fight and fight till the very last moment. He was not the most gifted player but he made himself what he eventually became. He always made most of what God gave him. It could easily have been depressing watching the top players around and not seeing yourself win anything. But he says that's the thing that kept him going. Guys like Federer, Djokovic and Nadal made him a better player. Djokovic was the 'Greatest clay court player to never win the French Open' untill 2016. Now David Ferrer owns that tag, without a shadow of a doubt. There was something about David that everyone just seemed to like. He managed to make his name in an era of superstars and that was his greatest achievement.