I know it’s in not a popular opinion here but Dominic was closer to Roland Garros title this year than most of you think. He was going toe to toe with Nadal for 2 sets before the fatigue deflated him completly. He played 4 days in a row and eventually got gassed. If not for idiotic scheduling and Novak’s whining in the SF he would have had a very decent chance to take The Bull down. I don’t say he would have won but an epic 5-setter was on the cards.
So I believe next year assuming they meet and come with equal rest time Dominic will have a very good chance to beat Rafa.
Thiem was not tired before the RG 2019 final. That is a reasoning some Federer fans/Nadal detractors put in their mind to have hope and convince themselves that Thiem will defeat Nadal next year at RG. Also to decrease value to Nadal's victory. Fact is, Nadal dominates Thiem at RG. Nadal convincingly defeated Thiem at RG 2014, RG 2017 and RG 2018 before, so Nadal defeating Thiem at RG 2019 is just a manifestation of a pattern, rather than of Thiem being "tired". Nadal is simply a better clay player, even in his 30s, that is the reason why he keeps dominating Thiem at RG. RG is also Nadal's favorite clay court, as it is bigger than the courts of Masters 1000 and it allows him to return far and defend better.
Thiem played 3 days in a row before the RG final, yes. But let us examine closer the facts. Thiem easily destroyed in 3 sets Khachanov on Thursday 6, in an extremelly short match. Then he went on to play the semifinal against Djokovic which went to dice sets. But the semifinal was split on two days which helped Thiem to recover. If it is split on 2 days, is like playing two short matches in a row. No way a 25 years old is tired for playing a 3 sets match, plus a SF split on 2 days.
The fact that Thiem decresed his level in the 3th and 4th set, (and even in the 2nd set to a lesser degree) has nothing to do with his previous schedule. Even Nadal decrrased his level after the 1st set. The first set of the RG 2019 final is one of the highest level ever seen on a clay court. Thiem was playing like a robot, reaching all balls and running like a gazelle for every single ball in rallies of 10+ shots. Nadal was also running from all over the court, which also exhausted him. It is humanly impossible for any player to maintain the level of the first throughout the whole match. In the 2nd set not only Thiem, but also Nadal, decrrased their level and played in a more conservative style to recover strength. In the 3th and 4th round they both played with less energy than in the 1st set but Nadal's technicañ skills and shot-making on clay were proved superior in the absence of the stamina that None of them had compared with the 1st set.
The same happened in RG 2017 and RG 2018. Thiem decreased his level in the 3rh set of the RG 2017 semifinal (Nadal begelled him 6-0) yet no one says Thiem was "tired" in 2017. In the RG 2018 final Thiem also decrrased his level in the 2nd and 3th set compared with the 1st one, yet no one says that Thiem was "tired".
