RG'14 R64: Rafael Nadal (1) vs Dominic Thiem

Who wins?

  • Total voters
    97
  • Poll closed .
JoshT

JoshT

Semi-Pro
I personally think Nadal looks more promising today then he has this whole clay season.

Roland Garros offers him a ton of belief.
VAMOS!
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
JoshT said:
Their Spicy chicken is where it's at.
SUPREMES!
Click to expand...

Omg chicken supremes :)
Nadal wins, the streak continues....

pic_2656290_1203692023.gif
 
pds999

pds999

Hall of Fame
I love these Rafa threads where everyone talks up the chances of him losing/being pushed and he ends up beasting it in straight sets.
 
LazyNinja19

LazyNinja19

Banned
Very disappointed with Nadal's serve! Since past couple of weeks, i've noticed that Rafa has been serving as many as 99.9% of his serves to opponent's BH (be it one-hander or two-hander).
It goes to a point that he serves maybe 1 serve to the FH in an entire set(& sometimes not even that). As a result, his serve has become TOO predictable.

I have noticed that his opponents start moving towards their BH side, as soon as Rafa tosses the ball up. Most noticeable was Murray in the Rome match.

What happens is, that Rafa doesn't get much advantage with his serve, and it's almost like starting a rally from a neutral position. That's why he has been getting broken way more often in this Clay season.
He needs to mix it up a lot more, and not just serve towards the BH like a programmed robot.

Also the power in his shots is somewhat missing. It's kind of weird, because he is one of the fittest player on the tour, & yet the average speed of his shots has been lesser than almost all of his opponents, this season.

Needs to serve better, and impart more power to his shots. Hopefully he'll get there.
 
Wynter

Wynter

Legend
Well played by Thiem, had some chances but wasn't consistent enough, Nadal was great in forcing him into errors with some excellent retrieving.
 
irishnadalfan1983

irishnadalfan1983

Hall of Fame
LazyNinja19 said:
Very disappointed with Nadal's serve! Since past couple of weeks, i've noticed that Rafa has been serving as many as 99.9% of his serves to opponent's BH (be it one-hander or two-hander).
It goes to a point that he serves maybe 1 serve to the FH in an entire set(& sometimes not even that). As a result, his serve has become TOO predictable.

I have noticed that his opponents start moving towards their BH side, as soon as Rafa tosses the ball up. Most noticeable was Murray in the Rome match.

What happens is, that Rafa doesn't get much advantage with his serve, and it's almost like starting a rally from a neutral position. That's why he has been getting broken way more often in this Clay season.
He needs to mix it up a lot more, and not just serve towards the BH like a programmed robot.

Also the power in his shots is somewhat missing. It's kind of weird, because he is one of the fittest player on the tour, & yet the average speed of his shots has been lesser than almost all of his opponents, this season.

Needs to serve better, and impart more power to his shots. Hopefully he'll get there.
Click to expand...

Agreed - that was something I was saying a few backs - serve is weak and predictable. hence Djoko simply goes to town on him with returns - Rafa will get away with it against weaker players but Djoko will eat up his serve.
 
aldeayeah

aldeayeah

G.O.A.T.
Nadal was ok with brilliant moments. He was happy about his level of play in the oncourt interview. He's not quite there yet, but this should be more than enough to make it to the quarters with pretty much no effort.
 
mightyrick

mightyrick

Legend
aldeayeah said:
Nadal was ok with brilliant moments. He was happy about his level of play in the oncourt interview. He's not quite there yet, but this should be more than enough to make it to the quarters with pretty much no effort.
Click to expand...

Thiem employed the strategy of trying to rally with Nadal from far behind the baseline. We all know that approach is lunacy. Nobody has ever beaten Nadal doing that.

As difficult as it has been, Djokovic has figured it out. You have to stand on the baseline and take all of Nadal's shots early -- either on the rise at the apex of the bounce. You also have to flatten out every single shot off of both wings. Well, that's incredibly difficult to do.

On this surface, a very few players have been able to sustain that kind of approach to the game -- for three sets -- and beat Nadal. At Roland Garros, a five-set format, he has only been beaten one time out of almost 90 matches.

I wish Djokovic the best of luck in his run, but I still don't see it happening this year. That said, the only player who has the remotest of chances of beating Nadal in this venue is Djokovic.
 
vernonbc

vernonbc

Legend
furryballs said:
16 winners 19 U/E's and wins in straights so goat
Click to expand...

He had 12 U/E's, not 19.


Josh Lyman said:
When did Rafa switch back to his Nike Air shoes?
Click to expand...

The new shoes don't work for Rafa and he's been wearing his old ones, even in practice. I think he wore the new ones once in MC and of course he wears them when he's doing any pr for Nike but they can't get them right for him and his bad foot. He even made a trip to Portland after IW to work with the Nike techs but they don't support his foot and the orthotic insoles he needs.


Great match from Rafa (except for when he relaxed too much at the beginning of the third) but he was really sending a message to the youngster. Fun to watch. ;)
 
pds999

pds999

Hall of Fame
irishnadalfan1983 said:
Agreed - that was something I was saying a few backs - serve is weak and predictable. hence Djoko simply goes to town on him with returns - Rafa will get away with it against weaker players but Djoko will eat up his serve.
Click to expand...

...as people say every year, then Djokovic loses to him.
 
NADALRECORD

NADALRECORD

Banned
I will treasure this win for the rest of Thiem's career. I recorded it on DVD (and just fitted it onto 2 hour disc - with 3 minutes to spare - by not recording the sit-downs).

Nadal already looks in good enough form to beat Ferrer in straight sets.
 
NADALRECORD

NADALRECORD

Banned
irishnadalfan1983 said:
Agreed - that was something I was saying a few backs - serve is weak and predictable. hence Djoko simply goes to town on him with returns - Rafa will get away with it against weaker players but Djoko will eat up his serve.
Click to expand...

Djokovic is only good at the non-slams. He's useless at the slams. Even in Rome, Djokovic found himself at 3-3 in the final set. Not exactly convincing considering Djokovic beat Nadal in straight sets at Monte Carlo last year. Djokovic goes to town - to get over the depression of losing at Roland Garros (and every non-Australian slam since 2011) each year :D
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
jm1980 said:
Nadal in three easy sets. Maybe a bakery product or two in the mix.

Let's get this hype train derailed.
Click to expand...

Nadal blew a chance to serve a breadstick in the first. Still a pretty easy match for him.

Kid doesn't have what it takes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
  • Poll
French Open Final: [1] Rafa Nadal vs [7] Dominic Thiem
55 56 57
Replies
3K
Views
101K
NaomiKonjuhPotapova
NaomiKonjuhPotapova
H
  • Poll
2018 US Open Quarter-final - Rafael Nadal (1) vs Dominic Thiem (9)
62 63 64
Replies
3K
Views
94K
racquetreligion
racquetreligion
HetTheGreaterer
  • Poll
2020 Australian Open QF :- [1] Rafa Nadal vs [5] Domi Thiem
46 47 48
Replies
2K
Views
74K
Nostradamus
Nostradamus
aldeayeah
  • Poll
AO 2011 R32: Rafael Nadal (1) vs Bernard Tomic
20 21 22
Replies
1K
Views
45K
TheTruth
TheTruth
W
Match Stats/Report - Nadal vs Thiem, French Open final, 2018
Replies
6
Views
696
aldeayeah
aldeayeah
Top