Rafael Nadal beats Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps in 'most dominant' poll

Spain’s legendary tennis star Rafael Nadal has been named the most dominant athlete in the 21st century in a recent poll.

The 37-year-old is being termed one of the greatest players in the history of men’s singles tennis in the Open era.

In a recent poll by ESPN, Nadal was named the most dominant athlete in the 21st century, ahead of the likes of Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps.

The veteran tennis star was nominated because of his unparalleled dominance on the Clay court.

Nadal has an outstanding record while playing at the French Open where he ended up lifting the title 14 times in 18 main draw appearances, which is a record in both men’s and women’s singles category in the competition’s history.

No other player in the history of the tournament has managed to lift the title at Roland Garros more than eight times.

He qualified for the quarterfinal or beyond 16 out of 18 times, an astonishing achievement to say the least. It is because of his dominance that Nadal has been labelled as the ‘King of Clay’.

In total, the Mallorca-born has won 22 Grand Slam titles in his illustrious career, second-most in the history of men’s singles tennis, only behind Serbia’s Novak Djokovic who has won 24 major titles.

Nadal has struggled with injuries in the recent past and it is because of this reason he missed three out of the four Grand Slams in 2022.