Nadal vs. Thiem, Round 10: Previewing Sunday’s Roland Garros Final

At some point, with so many mind-boggling stats and so much history having been accomplished, you almost just have to shake your head and shrug your shoulders at what Rafael Nadal has done at Roland Garros since 2005, when, as an enthusiastic 19-year-old, the Spaniard held his first Coupe des Mousquetaires. But wait, there’s more, as there always is with Nadal, who is still improving at 32.

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Nadal vs Thiem

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When he meets Dominic Thiem – the only man to beat him on clay the past two seasons – in Sunday’s Roland Garros final, Nadal will try to mark a few more historical boxes on his Hall of Fame application. The 10-time Roland Garros champion can become only the second player to win 11 singles titles at one Grand Slam. Margaret Court won 11 Australian women’s singles titles before 1974.

Most singles titles at the same Grand Slam tournament (men and women)

* Known as Australian Championships before 1969

Nadal also will attempt to become the first player in the Open Era (since April 1968) to win 11 titles at three different tour-level events, having won his 11^th titles at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this year.

But Thiem, the 24-year-old Austrian making his Grand Slam final debut, should stride onto Court Philippe-Chatrier with his chest out and head nodding. The seventh seed beat Nadal last year in Rome and earlier this year in Madrid, accounting for 100 per cent of Nadal’s two clay-court losses in 2017 and 2018 (49-2). Their Madrid quarter-final on 11 May was their ninth and most recent FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting (Nadal leads 6-3).

“On Sunday I have a very difficult match against a player that is playing great. I know I have to play my best if I want to have chances. Good thing is I played a lot of good matches this clay-court season,” Nadal said. “So Sunday is the day to give my best, is the day to increase even a little bit more the level.”

Thiem will try to become only the second Austrian player – man or woman – to win a Grand Slam title when he and Nadal, 2018’s clay-court match-wins leaders, face off for the third time this year. Thiem’s countryman Thomas Muster won the 1995 Roland Garros title.

“He’s a role model for every Austrian tennis player. He’s the biggest in our sport in Austria,” Thiem said.

2018 Tour-level match wins on clay

No man has won his maiden Grand Slam final since Marin Cilic at the 2014 US Open (d. Nishikori). Thiem (24 years, 3 days) can also become the youngest Grand Slam champion since Novak Djokovic (24 years, 252 days) at the 2012 Australian Open.

“I know how to play against him. I have a plan,” Thiem said of facing Nadal. “If I want to beat him, I have to play that way like I did in Rome and in Madrid. But I’m also aware that here it’s tougher. He likes the conditions more here than in Madrid, for sure. Best of five is also different story.”

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Two of their nine FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups have come at Roland Garros, and Nadal has won both of them, including a straight-sets defeat during last year’s semi-finals. The Spaniard will need to improve to 3-0 against Thiem at Roland Garros if he wants to stay No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. Lose, and Roger Federer will overtake the top spot. Thiem will rise to No. 7 regardless of Sunday’s final, which the Austrian is trying to approach pressure-free and relaxed.

“Of course there is pressure, especially in Grand Slam finals, because I went a very long way now and I don’t want to lose the finals,” Thiem said. “But on the other hand… I’m facing Rafa, I’m not the one who has the pressure.”

Did You Know?
Thiem, who beat second seed Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, could become just the ninth man in the Open Era to beat the top two seeds at a Grand Slam.