Is playing on clay not a part of tennis?
Rafa is the greatest clay courter ever. There. I said it again for you. However, as an all round player Novak Djokovic is quite clearly the better player. Look at every other record going and Novak is superior. And GOAT contenders in my view need to be excellent on all surfaces.
The reason he is not even in the discussion as greatest all round player is because a certain man named Roger Federer has dominated everywhere on every surface against every player other than Rafael Nadal on clay.
Take away Federer's greatest slam and he'd still have 11 slams. More than twice that of the number if you took away Nadal's greatest slam.
I'm sorry, but to have 5 slams on non clay surfaces, only one since he was 25, rules him out of the all round greatest discussion in my opinion.
My opinion is to truly be a GOAT contender you have to be good on all surfaces. Rafa Nadal hasn't got to even a QF on Wimbledon's grass since he was 25.
He hasn't dominated a single slam over a long period of time other than the French. It hasn't even been like he dominates everyone other than the big 4. He has one Australian Open and has went out at the QFs more times than he even reached the final.I've already mentioned his Wimbledon record. And his US Open record is similar to that at the Australian.
He is a fantastic player. But he is too dependent on one surface in my opinion to be considered a GOAT contender.