quote:
Fed's record at the FO: (58-14, 80.6% with 5 losses coming against the undisputed best clay court player of all time. So 86.5% winning percentage against everyone else). 1 win, 4 finals, 2 semis, 1 QF

Kuerten's record at the FO: 36-8 (81.8%, so slightly better but he did not play a player comparable to Nadal). 3 wins, 2 QFs.

Fed has won 3 master's title on clay while Kuerten has won four. So overall, the stats are close but slightly favor Kuerten. The reason I say that Fed is a better clay court player is that he has played in the era of the greatest clay court player ever. The one time Nadal lost early in the FO, Fed won it. I strongly believe that if Nadal didn't exist, Fed would have won 3-4 more FOs. Whereas, there is no singular player that prevented Kurten from actually displaying more clay court dominance.

In short, if Kurten was playing from 2005-today, not only do I not think he wouldn't have won any FOs, I also don't think he would have made more Finals than Fed. And hence why I think it is reasonable to argue that Fed is the better clay player.

Kuerten certainly never had to face anybody of Nadal's caliber at the FO. But he did have to go against a field that was much deeper on the dirtballer front. Agassi, Chang, Courier, Carlos Moya, Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Thomas Muster, Sergei Bruguera, Kafelnikov, Medvedev, Magnus Normann, and a few others....*

From the fourth round on, Kuerten was matched up with a certifiable fricking dirtballer ready to grind for 5 hours. And Kuerten proved himself to be the best of the bunch.

Sampras never made it through that grindfest. Agassi finally did. No no, I'm more certain of my conclusion than ever: Kuerten was a better clay court player than Federer.

_________________________________________
*Hell, the "clay court grinder" has become just as rare as the serve and volleyer.