Dominic Thiem vs Rafa Nadal
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Dominic Thiem’s exquisite groundstrokes at the finals of the ATP500 Barcelona Open, a home tournament for Rafael Nadal, had many touting the Austrian as a definitive future winner at Roland Garros.
It was Thiem who knocked out Andy Murray, top seed and World No. 1 from that tournament in the semi-finals – and he has only ever faced Nadal on clay. Unlike most players – including his own contemporaries in age, Thiem has taken a victory over Nadal on clay, at the semi-finals of the Buenos Aires Open in Argentina – where the Austrian eventually won the title.
While he has fared decently on grass as well, Thiem’s forte appears to be on clay – and he is strongly considered part of the NextGen, in a NextGen that seems to be heavily weighted with grass-court specialists more than any other surface.
Although their recent match was rather one-sided, Thiem put up a spirited fight, let alone in the end by an ever-mounting unforced error count – with Nadal the one getting off to a nervous, shaky start, unable to break Thiem’s strong serve.
With a new awareness of his previous errors and fresh off a match against the Greatest of All Time on clay, Thiem could well put up a fight here.
Thiem is in Q1 with Nadal placed in Q3 – so Thiem will have to make the finals for this to happen. But then again, that may not be as unlikely as we think.
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here
