Rafael Nadal losing on clay is not a sight that fans ever got used to seeing until he retired last year.

Nadal said farewell at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, losing his final match to Botic van de Zandschulp.

This brought an end to his decorated 23-year career, that included Nadal winning 14 Roland Garros titles.

Nadal’s dominance on clay was evident in 2007, when he headed into the Hamburg Open final against Roger Federer on an 81-match winning streak.

Photo by Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images

What Roger Federer gave Rafael Nadal after ending his 81-match winning streak on clay

After beating Lleyton Hewitt, Nadal reached the final of the 2007 Hamburg Open and extended his winning streak on clay to 81 matches.

This record-breaking run began back in April 2005, with Nadal’s last loss on clay coming against Igor Andreev in Valencia.

Nadal had won 13 titles as a result of his winning streak, that includes two victories at Roland Garros.

Five of those 81 wins for Nadal came against Federer, including the final of the Monte Carlo Masters just the week before, but the Hamburg Open was where it all came to an end.

After losing the first set, Federer fought back to beat Nadal, 2-6 6-2 6-0, to get his first win over the Spaniard on clay.