Nadal vs @Checkmate

Who wins? You decide!


  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .

Sport

G.O.A.T.
As everyone knows, @Checkmate is the king of predictions, he who never fails reading the future. Checkmate predicted that Thiem would win Roland Garros.
Dominic Thiem is winning RG 2018.

But Nadal is the king of clay, and has never lost a Roland Garros final. So who will win?

Nadal lost a set to Schwartzman, #12 in the world, while Thiem lost a set to Tsitsipas, #37 in the world. In the SF, Thiem almost lost the second set against an unknown player, while Nadal utterly destroyed a better player like Del Potro.

In my humble opinion, Nadal will prevail.

Checkmate to @Checkmate.

 
Last edited:

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
I mean Thiem has on much smaller stages shown smart tactics against Nadal. Can he translate those smarts onto an infinitely bigger stage and sustain it for a longer period of time? Not impossible. The weather forecast for Sunday seems far less Nadal friendly than today too, so if there is thunder looming during the match as is forecast then we've seen against both Bolelli and Schwartzman in this tournament how much more Rafa struggles... Of course Thiem doesn't particularly like those conditions either, so who knows if there will be much of an advantage.

Also, while everyone here is convinced that Thiem would have pounced on those Nadal break point opportunities that Del Potro failed to today it should be noted that Thiem struggled today himself... Was a break up in the first set, and choked it away, had numerous break points in the second and choked them away, and had numerous set points in the second and choked those away too.

Granted he won't have the pressure of being the heavy favourite on Sunday like he did today so may be able to play without the same weight of expectation on his shoulders, but it's also a much bigger occasion against a much more worrying opponent, and the fact that people are talking him up as the only guy to beat Nadal on the surface the past two years... You know he'll be thinking about that to some extent, so it's unlikely he'll be playing without ANY expectations.

I don't personally think Thiem has that much chance, but I'm also very interested to see what the weather is going to be like when they walk out there. You would have to pick him as the guy who has the biggest shot out of everyone in the draw, so this is the closest thing to a dream final I think we could have had.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
I mean Thiem has on much smaller stages shown smart tactics against Nadal. Can he translate those smarts onto an infinitely bigger stage and sustain it for a longer period of time? Not impossible. The weather forecast for Sunday seems far less Nadal friendly than today too, so if there is thunder looming during the match as is forecast then we've seen against both Bolelli and Schwartzman in this tournament how much more Rafa struggles... Of course Thiem doesn't particularly like those conditions either, so who knows if there will be much of an advantage.

Also, while everyone here is convinced that Thiem would have pounced on those Nadal break point opportunities that Del Potro failed to today it should be noted that Thiem struggled today himself... Was a break up in the first set, and choked it away, had numerous break points in the second and choked them away, and had numerous set points in the second and choked those away too.

Granted he won't have the pressure of being the heavy favourite on Sunday like he did today so may be able to play without the same weight of expectation on his shoulders, but it's also a much bigger occasion against a much more worrying opponent, and the fact that people are talking him up as the only guy to beat Nadal on the surface the past two years... You know he'll be thinking about that to some extent, so it's unlikely he'll be playing without ANY expectations.

I don't personally think Thiem has that much chance, but I'm also very interested to see what the weather is going to be like when they walk out there. You would have to pick him as the guy who has the biggest shot out of everyone in the draw, so this is the closest thing to a dream final I think we could have had.

I wouldn’t call them smart tactics, Thiem just hit as hard as possible and they mostly landed in. He’s proven on two / three occasions that he can do it in BO3, and in straight sets, but doing it in BO5 is something else entirely.

He’s also shown that he’s only capable of playing one or two good matches a tournament, and he’s already played two good matches.

That said, if Nadal’s serve game craps out like it has all tournament, Thiem’s got a chance at the upset, provided he plays smart...but I’ve got zero faith that Thiem is capable of thinking on court.

You never know I suppose. If Thiem can take out Rafa at Rome and Madrid, Chatrier is not out of the question.


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ibbi

G.O.A.T.
I wouldn’t call them smart tactics, Thiem just hit as hard as possible and they mostly landed in. He’s proven on two / three occasions that he can do it in BO3, and in straight sets, but doing it in BO5 is something else entirely.

He’s also shown that he’s only capable of playing one or two good matches a tournament, and he’s already played two good matches.

That said, if Nadal’s serve game craps out like it has all tournament, Thiem’s got a chance at the upset, provided he plays smart...but I’ve got zero faith that Thiem is capable of thinking on court.

You never know I suppose. If Thiem can take out Rafa at Rome and Madrid, Chatrier is not out of the question.


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LOL It wasn't JUST hitting it as hard as possible, he stood up close to the baseline to return serve! It's not MUCH of a tactic, but it is an approach that's now worked for him on two different occasions.
 
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