Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 in the Barcelona final, 2017 on clay
It was Nadal's 10th title at the event. He'd recently won is 10th in Monte Carlo and would go onto win a 10th at French Open short after. Thiem would go onto win teh title in 2019, beating Nadal along the way
Nadal won 67 points, Thiem won 47
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (25/53) 66%
- 1st serve points won (25/35) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (13/18) 72%
- Aces 1 (a whiff, bad bounce related)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/53) 21%
Thiem...
- 1st serve percentage (37/61) 61%
- 1st serve points won (22/37) 59%
- 2nd serve points won (10/24) 42%
- Aces 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/61) 21%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 23%
- to BH 75%
- to Body 2%
Thiem served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 66%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 48 (18 FH, 30 BH), including 6 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 9 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (48/61) 79%
Thiem made...
- 42 (14 FH, 28 BH), including 5 runaround FHs
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (42/53) 79%
Break Points
Nadal 3/8 (5 games)
Thiem 0/1
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 13 (8 FH, 2 BH, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Thiem 13 (9 FH, 1 BH, 1 BHV, 2 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 1 cc/inside-in, 2 dtl, 3 inside-out, 1 drop shot and 1 running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net
- BHs - 1 cc return (bad bounce related) and 1 dtl
Thiem's FHs - 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 4 inside-out and 2 inside-in
- BH pass - 1 cc
- 1 OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 21
- 15 Unforced (7 FH, 8 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)... with 1 FH at net & 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.3
Thiem 43
- 34 Unforced (22 FH, 12 BH)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 BHOH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.1
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was 5/8 (63%) at net
Thiem was...
- 6/7 (86%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/1 retreated
Match Report
Unusual match based around serve + 1 aggression rather than rallying, particularly from Thiem, but also from Nadal. And Thiem really getting carried away with it by the end to extent of playing wildly poor
Still, a consummate showing from the winner, who looks to dominate with power baseline tennis, but is extremely strong in defence when called upon
Both players serve powerfully. This is as regularly powerful serving as I've seen from Nadal on clay. He looks for weak return and is moving inside court to finish quickly with beat-down hitting, just as much of BH as FH. Thiem not only serves powerfully but hits his spots nicely, dragging the backward positioned Nadal well outside of court. He's even more aggressive and looks for quick, back-away FH point finishers at once. Including when his serve hasn't moved Nadal out of position
21% unreturned rate for both players - high for clay, particularly against these returners. 7/10 Thiem return errors have been marked forced, which for Nadal, is high, while Thiem has decent 4 aces. Court isn't the best with few bad bounces
Along with power serving, Nadal's top notch in defence. He's tested considerably with Thiem going close to lines while belting the ball - and does well to retrieve many a tough ball. Still, the extent to which Thiem goes near lines isn't justified. Good as Nadal is on defence, its not a nothing-short-of-ball-in-corner-will-do showing - but Thiem keeps going for corners and lines
And its not the case that Thiem progresses to that stage either when nothing else works. Right from the start he goes for lines and corners. Its not worth it - and he misses about as often as not.This is either respecting your opponent too much or plain foolishness. Or both. He barely tests his rallying ability with Nadal. Admittedly, he comes up short when he does, but not to degree that looking for winners every other ball sounds like a great alternative
There is some neutral rallying type tennis on Nadal's service games, but even that's tilted towards attacking. Nadal throws up a few high, heavily spun FH cc's to test Thiem's BH against the shoulder high ball. Thiem's BH holds up (as in, doesn't give up errors) reasonably, without packing much punch
Generally, Nadal likes to persist with the FH cc's til opponents BH cracks. Not here. Sooner rather than later, he blasts a BH cc to open court to start attacking. The use of power BH cc (as opposed to back-away FH inside-out) is normal for Nadal during this period
From there, Nadal runs Thiem around with BH cc's, FH cc's and FH inside-out's hitting moderately hard and flat. Certainly not loopily. Thiem's movement is superb and he copes well with being run side to side, but Nadal doesn't let up. Odd Thiem going for broke winner attempt on run too - invariably missing
In nutshell - both players serving heftily, both looking to attack early on their service games. Thiem with unnecessrary and overdone all-in vigour, Nadal strongly but more sensibly. Both defend and move excellently
Play changes a bit in second set with Thiem seemingly frustrated and taking the attempts to finish quickly with winners to an out-to-lunch higher degree
It was Nadal's 10th title at the event. He'd recently won is 10th in Monte Carlo and would go onto win a 10th at French Open short after. Thiem would go onto win teh title in 2019, beating Nadal along the way
Nadal won 67 points, Thiem won 47
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (25/53) 66%
- 1st serve points won (25/35) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (13/18) 72%
- Aces 1 (a whiff, bad bounce related)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/53) 21%
Thiem...
- 1st serve percentage (37/61) 61%
- 1st serve points won (22/37) 59%
- 2nd serve points won (10/24) 42%
- Aces 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/61) 21%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 23%
- to BH 75%
- to Body 2%
Thiem served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 66%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 48 (18 FH, 30 BH), including 6 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 9 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (48/61) 79%
Thiem made...
- 42 (14 FH, 28 BH), including 5 runaround FHs
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (42/53) 79%
Break Points
Nadal 3/8 (5 games)
Thiem 0/1
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 13 (8 FH, 2 BH, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Thiem 13 (9 FH, 1 BH, 1 BHV, 2 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 1 cc/inside-in, 2 dtl, 3 inside-out, 1 drop shot and 1 running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net
- BHs - 1 cc return (bad bounce related) and 1 dtl
Thiem's FHs - 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 4 inside-out and 2 inside-in
- BH pass - 1 cc
- 1 OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 21
- 15 Unforced (7 FH, 8 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)... with 1 FH at net & 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.3
Thiem 43
- 34 Unforced (22 FH, 12 BH)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 BHOH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.1
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was 5/8 (63%) at net
Thiem was...
- 6/7 (86%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/1 retreated
Match Report
Unusual match based around serve + 1 aggression rather than rallying, particularly from Thiem, but also from Nadal. And Thiem really getting carried away with it by the end to extent of playing wildly poor
Still, a consummate showing from the winner, who looks to dominate with power baseline tennis, but is extremely strong in defence when called upon
Both players serve powerfully. This is as regularly powerful serving as I've seen from Nadal on clay. He looks for weak return and is moving inside court to finish quickly with beat-down hitting, just as much of BH as FH. Thiem not only serves powerfully but hits his spots nicely, dragging the backward positioned Nadal well outside of court. He's even more aggressive and looks for quick, back-away FH point finishers at once. Including when his serve hasn't moved Nadal out of position
21% unreturned rate for both players - high for clay, particularly against these returners. 7/10 Thiem return errors have been marked forced, which for Nadal, is high, while Thiem has decent 4 aces. Court isn't the best with few bad bounces
Along with power serving, Nadal's top notch in defence. He's tested considerably with Thiem going close to lines while belting the ball - and does well to retrieve many a tough ball. Still, the extent to which Thiem goes near lines isn't justified. Good as Nadal is on defence, its not a nothing-short-of-ball-in-corner-will-do showing - but Thiem keeps going for corners and lines
And its not the case that Thiem progresses to that stage either when nothing else works. Right from the start he goes for lines and corners. Its not worth it - and he misses about as often as not.This is either respecting your opponent too much or plain foolishness. Or both. He barely tests his rallying ability with Nadal. Admittedly, he comes up short when he does, but not to degree that looking for winners every other ball sounds like a great alternative
There is some neutral rallying type tennis on Nadal's service games, but even that's tilted towards attacking. Nadal throws up a few high, heavily spun FH cc's to test Thiem's BH against the shoulder high ball. Thiem's BH holds up (as in, doesn't give up errors) reasonably, without packing much punch
Generally, Nadal likes to persist with the FH cc's til opponents BH cracks. Not here. Sooner rather than later, he blasts a BH cc to open court to start attacking. The use of power BH cc (as opposed to back-away FH inside-out) is normal for Nadal during this period
From there, Nadal runs Thiem around with BH cc's, FH cc's and FH inside-out's hitting moderately hard and flat. Certainly not loopily. Thiem's movement is superb and he copes well with being run side to side, but Nadal doesn't let up. Odd Thiem going for broke winner attempt on run too - invariably missing
In nutshell - both players serving heftily, both looking to attack early on their service games. Thiem with unnecessrary and overdone all-in vigour, Nadal strongly but more sensibly. Both defend and move excellently
Play changes a bit in second set with Thiem seemingly frustrated and taking the attempts to finish quickly with winners to an out-to-lunch higher degree