2019 Roland Garros FINAL: Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem

Who wins?

  • The KING in 3

  • The KING in 4

  • The KING in 5

  • PRINCE of CLAY in 3

  • PRINCE of CLAY in 4

  • PRINCE of CLAY in 5


Results are only viewable after voting.

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Exactly. Fed does well against Nadal but can't quite get through him.

Thiem is more huge highs with horrible lows. Didn't he lose one final to Nadal 6-0 6-2? Yet other times he zones it and beats him. Not at RG though.

He has never suffered a bagel. The most one-sided score he lost by in a final to Nadal was 4-6,1-6 at 2017 Barcelona.
 

brinkeguthrie

Hall of Fame
TWELVE RG titles is insane. Imagine someone like Tiger Woods winning a dozen Masters. We are witnessing the GOAT (RF) and the CLAYGOAT (Rafa) at the same time, with Djoker right behind them. We probably won't ever see this time of simultaneous trio ever again, no?
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
danishribss.jpg
 
T

Tiki-Taka

Guest
Just like I said this time last year - Appreciate the moment and what he has achieved, as it becomes less and less likely that he will do it again. Remember the legendary Federer chasing that 18th Slam for what looked like an eternity. Now our Bull has reached that number as well, and he couldn't have worked any harder to get there.

To win 12 titles anywhere in your entire career means you are a undoubtedly a successful player.
To win 12 titles on one surface shows you are someone very special in certain conditions.
To win 12 titles at the same tournament is pretty insane already. I can only recall Navratilova on either Tour doing that in Chicago.
However, to win 12 titles at ONE GRAND SLAM... There is no existing adjective to properly describe the magnitude of this achievement. Even epic doesn't do it justice.

But there is one man who showed us that this achievement is real. Winning 4 in a row in his first four attempts. Recovering from his first loss by winning 5 in a row. Finally, bouncing back from his most drastic slump by winning 3 in a row, in his thirties, when many predicted him a career end much earlier than that. 93-2 at Roland Garros in his whole career. 24-0 in the final and semifinal. Only lost 10 sets in these two stages. Taken to only one decider. Absolutely brutal.

And for the first time, I was fortunate enough to see his greatness at Philippe Chatrier in front of my very own eyes. Each of his Slams here was very special for one reason or another, but LA DUODECIMA is definitely the one that I will never forget. Regardless of what the toxic, fake fans of the game say, clay is a wonderful surface, and he has mastered tennis on it to absolute perfection.

Once again,

Vainqueur de Roland Garros

deux mille cinq
deux mille six
deux mille sept
deux mille huit
deux mille dix
deux mille onze
deux mille douze
deux mille treize
deux mille quatorze
deux mille dix-sept
deux mille dix-huit
deux mille dix-neuf

l'Espagnol RAFAEL NADAL

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zep

Hall of Fame
The match was very competitive for 2 sets and then Nadal stepped it up. Also it was clear from set 3 that Thiem was running on fumes. I don't think he would have beaten Nadal with the way KoC was playing but if he was fresh set 3,4 would have been competitive as well. I hope Thiem wins the title one day. The highlights of the match were Nadal's stunning volleys.
 

Jeric

New User
I know. He may still have won maybe. But it wouldn't have reeked of bias. He didn't need favors from scheduling because he already had the easiest draw possible (Thiem as usual in Djoko's half). If he had Thiem in his half and then had to face Djoko I don't think you could have bet on the same result.

I don't get how this is biased at all. Thiem is the 4th seed, Djokovic is the 1st seed. The seedings are based solely on the current ATP ranking. It's not Nadal's fault that Thiem happened to be fourth and happened to be much better in clay than the 3rd seed (Federer). It only makes sense that the 1st and 4th seed are in the same half while the 2nd and 3rd are in the other.
 

sbengte

G.O.A.T.
I don't get how this is biased at all. Thiem is the 4th seed, Djokovic is the 1st seed. The seedings are based solely on the current ATP ranking. It's not Nadal's fault that Thiem happened to be fourth and happened to be much better in clay than the 3rd seed (Federer). It only makes sense that the 1st and 4th seed are in the same half while the 2nd and 3rd are in the other.
Huh ? The way draws work is that seeds 3 and 4 are randomly drawn with seeds 1 or 2. Legally organizers cannot decide who goes into which half. Thiem had a 50% chance of landing in Djok or Nadal's half but those of us who know over the years how Nadal's draws work , knew with certainty that Thiem would be put in Djoko's half so Nadal is a lock for the final. Just search for threads on more data pointing to draw rigging on this very site.

The bias I was talking of is about the scheduling anyway. Thiem was playing the fourth day in a row. After a brutal semi. So it was an uneven contest to begin with. If it was Nadal in that position, he would have complained and they would move the final to Monday, pretty sure of that. Nadal complains loudly when he percieves the slightest injustice while his opponents just suck it up. Anyway it was Thiem's fault that he didn't make enough noise about it. If Djoko had won the semi there was a slight chance that it would be different.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
If it was Djokovic in the final would it be more satisfying/exciting?

Yes because he likely would have had a better chance, I believe...and made the Slam chase more interesting. Now it's just a question of when, not if, Rafa will win enough French Open titles to pass Federer.

Did you hear the crowd? They are sick and tired of this guy winning every single year. It's beyond impressive at this point and is simply repetitive and tiresome.
 

rUDin 21

Hall of Fame
Of course, and Thiem's boorish, moronic ass is still paying his membership fees as part of the ATP's hyped Can't Win A Major Legion (Thiem, Nishikori, Kyrgios, Dimitrov, Simon, Pospisil, Tomic, Querry, et al), which continues to prove that this is the most talentless generation 1/2 in tennis history. As of this French Open, with on and off court failures, Thiem is the face of that loser generation.

Meanwhile, Nadal wins his 12th French Open title. Not only is he the master of the event, but with major #18, he is closing in on Federer, who stands at 20. There is no reason to doubt Nadal can (at least) match that.
Depending of the draw i think Nadal will get to another grand slam final this year.And you're right about Thiem.He is the leader of that failed generation,although i believe that he will win GS title(I want to say RG,but don't know about Rafa's plans in the next 5 years).
 

3fees

G.O.A.T.
Congrats to Nadal blnt Thiem in 4 sets dbl breadsticks.. within 3 of Rogers 20 slams, unfortunately grass and hc slams are left and someone else is king of these..

Cheers
3Fees :)
 

moonballs

Hall of Fame
Nadal deserves the win congrats to the good Rafa fans on this board. The only thing is the shameful scheduling. If Thiem had the one day rest, we would have seen a truly competitive match between the old and the young on clay.
 

rUDin 21

Hall of Fame
Yes because he likely would have had a better chance, I believe...and made the Slam chase more interesting. Now it's just a question of when, not if, Rafa will win enough French Open titles to pass Federer.

Did you hear the crowd? They are sick and tired of this guy winning every single year. It's beyond impressive at this point and is simply repetitive and tiresome.
TBH Djokovic would have lost also in 4 sets probably. You just can't beat this guy in the final of RG.It would be more interesting final bc of the rivalry and all(Rafa avenging AO).It will be interesting at Wimbledon.I think Federer have a chance for another title.Possible final against Djokovic.
 

Gary Duane

G.O.A.T.
But he’s been taken to 5 in semi ;)
And he was taken to 5 in a SF which should have been the F. But thanks to the fact that RG insists on seeding by general ranking and will not seed by clay results, Nadal was not seeded #1, as he should have been, thereby depriving us of the proper final. I'll repeat again that RG has by far the worst track record of all majors in seeding according to who is most likely to win, while Wimbledon has the best record.

The difference is choice and also the relative status of Wimbledon. Wimbledon gets to do whatever it wants, which has turned out to be wise for seeding. RG is stuck not only with no lights, no roof and horrendous scheduling due to both plus bad weather, it also has screwed up seeding most years. Witness Nadal's seeding, #2 again.

I know the VB will probably agree, but how can any fan of tennis who is not biased not wonder at the fact that the guy who won RG 12 times was only seeded #1 3 times? How unbelievably and obviously STUPID do you have to be not to get that? Not you - I am generalizing. Back in the 90s, when clay was more specialized, RG's record of seeding top players and then having them win was absolutely abysmal.

The two players who pushed Nadal hardest in his peak years were Fed and Djokovic. The fact that neither could win RG when Nadal was at his peak pretty much says it all about how good Nadal is on clay. The only other guy like Nadal on clay was Borg.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
Hope Rafa starts winning something else now that he's got 12. Let poor Thiem have a slam, christ.

But knowing how tennis karma goes, if Nadal loses at RG next year, someone like Zverev will end up winning RG.
If he does, it will have to do with talent, not karma.
 
F

FRV

Guest
Late to the party but CONGRATS RAFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

61490401_299738920932751_8209393958237726891_n.jpg
Don't scare me like that. I had a bad dream that Rafa beat Thiem of all people for his 12th Roland Garros title. Can someone tell me when the French Open final starts? I think Federer has a really good shot against Djokovic with the way he's been playing.
 

mr tonyz

Professional
Wow, you finally win a set and then... 6-1 3-0.

I said at the start of the third it would be the most important game of the match (Thiem's service game) and I wasn't wrong.

Thiem can trade with Nadal no doubt about it but over 5 sets he has too many dips and too many 3 or 4 game meltdowns. Nadal just plays hard the whole time and that's the difference. If Nadal has a rotten game he moves straight onto the next one as if nothing happens. With Thiem, he struggles to get out of a rut for quite some time.

This notion is what i believe to be the difference between ATG's & 0-3 slam wonders. Peak level sure , but for the most part it's just a 90%+ level that most of the other guys can only fleetingly enter like beach waves throughout most matches. Nadal is the epitome of ruthless percentage based constrictor baseline tennis . They way he slowly maneuvers his opponent ever so slightly out of position . It isn't pretty , but it's deadly. Djoker is really close to Nadal , exept Djoker is the dtl master & Fed as we know has his variety , slices , droppers & volleys + the occasional sabr to put his opponents off.

The main part is , that the Big-3 all play exceptionally consistant with their respective patterns-of-play. The rest of the tour just can't .
 

vernonbc

Legend
Nadal deserves the win congrats to the good Rafa fans on this board. The only thing is the shameful scheduling. If Thiem had the one day rest, we would have seen a truly competitive match between the old and the young on clay.
Blame the scheduling on Djokovic, not the organizers. If he hadn't run off the court at the first drop of rain and then refused to come back and play in the sun, they would have finished that semi on Friday too and Thiem could have had his day of rest.
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
I am tired of hearing about the lack of talent among the younger generation - they are up against a period of time in which the 3 greatest male players of all time are still playing! Once Federer retires they will start to win Grand Slams, that is what is actually needed right now. I suspect Nadal and Djokovic have 5 or 6 more years if they stay healthy and uninjured, but they will have a harder time winning all the time and new players will emerge. Look at how many brand new players have won tournaments (non-GS) this past year! The list is long, the talent is there. I am predicting that one of the next 3 Grand Slams will be won by someone who has never won a Grand Slam before.

I loved the final this year so much! Re-watching it without the stress of not knowing who would win was even more fun! :)
 

Ray Mercer

Hall of Fame
I am tired of hearing about the lack of talent among the younger generation - they are up against a period of time in which the 3 greatest male players of all time are still playing! Once Federer retires they will start to win Grand Slams, that is what is actually needed right now. I suspect Nadal and Djokovic have 5 or 6 more years if they stay healthy and uninjured, but they will have a harder time winning all the time and new players will emerge. Look at how many brand new players have won tournaments (non-GS) this past year! The list is long, the talent is there. I am predicting that one of the next 3 Grand Slams will be won by someone who has never won a Grand Slam before.

I loved the final this year so much! Re-watching it without the stress of not knowing who would win was even more fun! :)

The younger generation is terrible. Every sport should have new upcoming all time greats. Hockey, baseball, football, basketball etc. always have upcoming all time greats. Tennis Has a huge void right now due to the decreasing popularity. It’s decline is in line with heavyweight boxing which is also in a terrible rut.
 

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Yes because he likely would have had a better chance, I believe...and made the Slam chase more interesting. Now it's just a question of when, not if, Rafa will win enough French Open titles to pass Federer.

Did you hear the crowd? They are sick and tired of this guy winning every single year. It's beyond impressive at this point and is simply repetitive and tiresome.

Rafa received a standing ovation at the end of the match:

... and the crowd chanted "Rafa, Rafa" during the trophy ceremony:
 
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ForumMember

Hall of Fame
Huh ? The way draws work is that seeds 3 and 4 are randomly drawn with seeds 1 or 2. Legally organizers cannot decide who goes into which half. Thiem had a 50% chance of landing in Djok or Nadal's half but those of us who know over the years how Nadal's draws work , knew with certainty that Thiem would be put in Djoko's half so Nadal is a lock for the final. Just search for threads on more data pointing to draw rigging on this very site.

The bias I was talking of is about the scheduling anyway. Thiem was playing the fourth day in a row. After a brutal semi. So it was an uneven contest to begin with. If it was Nadal in that position, he would have complained and they would move the final to Monday, pretty sure of that. Nadal complains loudly when he percieves the slightest injustice while his opponents just suck it up. Anyway it was Thiem's fault that he didn't make enough noise about it. If Djoko had won the semi there was a slight chance that it would be different.
If we had collected all the tears you cried on Rafa's wins and used for irrigation, Sahara would no longer have been a desert.
 

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal can still win one more title at the French Open.
In fact, he will be a force until RG 2021.
Stay tuned!
 
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V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
Nadal will hopefully win at least 2 more RG's and 2 more other Grand Slams! :) C'mon Rafa!!!! :) :) :)
 
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mightyjeditribble

Hall of Fame
Nadal can still win one trophy more at the French Open.
In fact, he will be a force until RG 2021.
Stay tuned!
Yes, my feeling is that he will win one more RG. Of course, being the player he is, he might well win more. But I don't think it will be as straightforward as some people believe.

It has gone like this with Fed - "he could easily win another five!!!!" - a few months later: "OMG he'll never win another Alan" - then after the next win "He can win into his forties!!!" Etc.

The truth is that time stops for no man, but great champions don't suddenly stop threatening for titles. It's the day-to-day consistency that starts to go, usually, and we saw a little bit of this this year even with Rafa on clay.

(Sent from my mobile phone.)
 

Xemi666

Professional
Huh ? The way draws work is that seeds 3 and 4 are randomly drawn with seeds 1 or 2. Legally organizers cannot decide who goes into which half. Thiem had a 50% chance of landing in Djok or Nadal's half but those of us who know over the years how Nadal's draws work , knew with certainty that Thiem would be put in Djoko's half so Nadal is a lock for the final. Just search for threads on more data pointing to draw rigging on this very site.

The bias I was talking of is about the scheduling anyway. Thiem was playing the fourth day in a row. After a brutal semi. So it was an uneven contest to begin with. If it was Nadal in that position, he would have complained and they would move the final to Monday, pretty sure of that. Nadal complains loudly when he percieves the slightest injustice while his opponents just suck it up. Anyway it was Thiem's fault that he didn't make enough noise about it. If Djoko had won the semi there was a slight chance that it would be different.

Just like this year, right? Nadal didn't stand a chance with Thiem in his half and Djokovic in the final... oh wait :-D
 

zuluzazu

Hall of Fame
Huh ? The way draws work is that seeds 3 and 4 are randomly drawn with seeds 1 or 2. Legally organizers cannot decide who goes into which half. Thiem had a 50% chance of landing in Djok or Nadal's half but those of us who know over the years how Nadal's draws work , knew with certainty that Thiem would be put in Djoko's half so Nadal is a lock for the final. Just search for threads on more data pointing to draw rigging on this very site.

The bias I was talking of is about the scheduling anyway. Thiem was playing the fourth day in a row. After a brutal semi. So it was an uneven contest to begin with. If it was Nadal in that position, he would have complained and they would move the final to Monday, pretty sure of that. Nadal complains loudly when he percieves the slightest injustice while his opponents just suck it up. Anyway it was Thiem's fault that he didn't make enough noise about it. If Djoko had won the semi there was a slight chance that it would be different.
People should accept that irrespective of draws or scheduling Nadal has a 90% chance of winning a RG final. So people should just stop giving lame excuses of draws or scheduling. Nothing matters in a RG final. I mean the fact that the guy has never been taken to a 5th set in 13 finals is insane. That means that whatever the draw, Nadal in an RG final is the closest thing to unbeatable in sports.
 
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