Only three men have ever beaten Rafael Nadal in consecutive clay matches

Rafael Nadal defied the odds to turn the tables on Alex de Minaur and pick up a memorable win at the Madrid Open on Saturday.

Nadal’s 7-6(6), 6-3 win was hugely encouraging for the ‘King of Clay’, and saw him extract some revenge after losing to the Australian just ten days previously at the Barcelona Open.

De Minaur was the favourite pre-match but missed the chance to pick up consecutive clay-court wins over the Spaniard.

Had he won he would have joined an exclusive club, with only three men ever beating Nadal in consecutive matches on this surface.

Novak Djokovic

No one has managed to beat Nadal on the dirt as many times as Djokovic, with the world No 1 picking up eight wins in their 28 matches on this surface.

And though Nadal has control of their rivalry on this surface, the Serbian has twice picked up back-to-back victories on clay over the Spaniard.

The first time this happened was during Djokovic’s astonishing 2011 season, where he did not lose until the French Open.

That run saw him beat Nadal in the Madrid Open final, before prevailing when the two met the next week in the final of the Italian Open.

Djokovic also dominated the 2015 season and again picked up consecutive clay wins over Nadal then.

The 24-time major winner beat Nadal in the last four of the Monte Carlo Masters, and then again in the last eight at Roland Garros.

Fabio Fognini

A mercurial talent, Fognini had limited success against Nadal, with the former world No 1 beating the Italian in 14 of their 18 matches.

But Fognini has managed to pick up three wins over the Spaniard on clay, with two of them coming in quick succession in 2015.

Fognini rallied from a set down to beat Nadal 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the last four of the Rio Open, and then prevailed 6-4, 7-6(6) when they met in Barcelona later that season.

Gaston Gaudio

A former world No 5, Gaudio is probably best remembered for picking up a surprise French Open title in 2004 – the year before Nadal’s dominance in Paris began.

The Argentine was well and truly at home on the dirt, and won his first three matches against the Spaniard on clay – the only man to beat him three times in a row on the surface.

Gaudio dropped just four games in their first meeting, in Hamburg in 2003, and then prevailed in straight sets when they faced off in the Bastad quarter-final the following year.

He also picked up a bizarre 0-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Nadal in Buenos Aires in 2005 – though Nadal would win their final three matches to level their head-to-head.