Switzerland’s rising tennis star Dominic Stricker has revealed that beating Rafael Nadal on clay is part of his bucket list for the upcoming season in 2023. It is well known that Nadal has an unprecedented record on clay and beating him in his realm is considered almost next to impossible. Nadal has a 63–8 record in clay court tournament finals and has lost only three times in best-of-five-set matches on clay.
A very few players in history have been fortunate to beat Nadal on clay and the 20-year-old Stricker wants to join the elite club.
Stricker is definitely rising through the ranks and he has beaten players like Tim van Rijthoven, Aslan Karatsev, and Maxime Cressy. The youngster defeated third seed Jack Draper in the Group stage of the Next Gen ATP Finals on Wednesday.
“I would say the next player on my to-beat list is Rafa (Nadal) on clay,” Stricker said during an interview with ATP. “It is a tough one but I think it is something everyone would like to do.”
On the other hand, Nadal had stunned one and all after winning his 14th Roland Garros title in 2022 despite his foot injury trouble. Former legend Jimmy Connors reckons the veteran Spaniard will need to continue working hard to stay at the top echelons of the tennis world.
“It’s an adjustment. I’m not saying it cannot be done because it can. It can be handled,” Connors said on a recent episode of the Advantage Connors podcast.
“The adjustment that he will make if he wants to continue working, he’s a worker anyway, so he’ll figure it out if he wants to continue playing,” he added.
Nadal will take part in the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, which will begin on November 13.
Stricker, on the other hand, will take on Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday.
