Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal battled it out twice in the French Open final (Image: Getty)
One of Rafael Nadal’s fiercest rivals has opened up on what frustrated him most about facing the ‘King of Clay’ at Roland Garros. played the 22-time Grand Slam champion 16 times in his career and, admirably, won six of those meetings before both players retired last year.
But the Austrian was never able to overcome at the , where the Spaniard prevailed 14 times.
Thiem faced the icon in the final in both 2018 and 2019, but won just one set over the two meetings as Nadal dominated on both occasions.
And now Thiem, 31, has outlined the most difficult aspect of facing Nadal on Court Philippe Chatrier. But surprisingly, the former world No.3 did not point to any aspects of Nadal’s play or mannerisms.
“One of the most frustrating things is when you’re warming up on court just before the match starts,” he told . “The speaker starts listing all his Roland Garros titles. The crowd is getting crazier and crazier and the noise is going up, up, up.
“It’s very frustrating for the opponent. It’s actually a wonderful thing because the crowd gets fired up and everything goes crazy from one moment to the next. You’re playing against an absolute tennis legend, and things like this just confirm that, but yes, in the moment, I can guarantee you that it is very frustrating.”
Dominic Thiem won one Grand Slam title before retiring last year. (Image: Getty)
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Despite the chastening final defeats, Thiem reflected positively on being able to take on Nadal in successive finals in Paris. “Honestly, now, from a distance, I am very proud of those two finals against him,” he said.
“If I think about it, I had the opportunity to play twice against the best player in history at Roland Garros. Rafa won the tournament 14 times and two of them he did it against me. It is something that makes me proud.”
Thiem went on to suffer a third Slam final defeat in the 2020 final, beaten by . But later that year he finally landed the major title he craved, coming back from two sets down to beat in the final.
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Such had been the dominance of Nadal, Djokovic, and , the victory made Thiem the first player since Marin Cilic to win a maiden Slam title since 2014. He ended the year being touted to continue challenging the elite at big tournaments.
But his career was derailed in the 2021 season when he suffered a crippling wrist injury. The problem ruled him out for seven months, and after returning, Thiem failed to get past the second round at a Slam tournament .