Thiem better on clay or hard?

Hard or clay?

  • Clay

  • Hard

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Lleytonstation

Lleytonstation

Bionic Poster
Think about this: Thiem only masters came on HC vs Fed. He has reached two different HC slams, and is likely to get a HC slam.

That vs 2 clay slam finals and no clay masters.

Now he does have a Rafa barrier in his way.

But it is interesting.


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It's still clay because he would have at least one RG if not for Nadal, and probably two.

And Fed blew that Masters. Thiem really had no business winning it.

All that aside, I just think his long wind ups and heavy strokes are very suited to clay so he's much more difficult to play against for an opponent. His only problem on clay has been a problem for literally everyone else in the last 15 years (and counting).
 
Steve0904 said:
It's still clay because he would have at least one RG if not for Nadal, and probably two.

And Fed blew that Masters. Thiem really had no business winning it.

All that aside, I just think his long wind ups and heavy strokes are very suited to clay so he's much more difficult to play against for an opponent. His only problem on clay has been a problem for literally everyone else in the last 15 years (and counting).
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Probably more suited for clay, yes. But he would have had one slam on HC if it was not for Djoker. He won two sets at Djokers best slam where as he has I believe just 1 set in two tries vs Rafa at FO.
 
He’s closing the gap on hard, but I think it’s still clay. He’s just inconsistent in best of three on both surfaces, so kind of random that he happened to get over the finish line at a hard court Masters but not a clay one. He probably would have had a Roland Garros or two if not for Nadal, while it hasn’t been till this year that he’s looked like a legit contender at the hard court slams. Very impressive how he’s steadily improved his game over the years. Wonder where he’ll top out at.
 
Lleytonstation said:
Probably more suited for clay, yes. But he would have had one slam on HC if it was not for Djoker. He won two sets at Djokers best slam where as he has I believe just 1 set in two tries vs Rafa at FO.
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This is true, but all things equal it just shows the difference between Djoker at the AO and Nadal at RG. Not surprising at all that Thiem was much closer to beating Djokovic, but his best surface is still clay IMO. His HC improvements have been noticeable over the last 1-2 years though.
 
Steve0904 said:
It's still clay because he would have at least one RG if not for Nadal, and probably two.

And Fed blew that Masters. Thiem really had no business winning it.

All that aside, I just think his long wind ups and heavy strokes are very suited to clay so he's much more difficult to play against for an opponent. His only problem on clay has been a problem for literally everyone else in the last 15 years (and counting).
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The last three;)
 
Clay for sure

The only reason he hasn’t won RG multiple times yet is because RAFA is greedy
 
Lleytonstation said:
Probably more suited for clay, yes. But he would have had one slam on HC if it was not for Djoker. He won two sets at Djokers best slam where as he has I believe just 1 set in two tries vs Rafa at FO.
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He has also beaten Nadal on HC and came within a whisker of doing it a second time. It's still clay though.
 
On a slow surface like clay, others find it hard to hit winners against him, but he has enough firepower to hit through them just like Wawrinka. Also, he has more time to take his big backswings and his deep return position doesn’t hurt him as much since fast serves are less effective relatively on clay. Clay is still his best surface, but he has not been good enough to beat the clay GOAT in Bof5 though.

He has improved a lot on hard courts in the past 18 months and his level is very close to the best like Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. So, his level might be amongst the best players on hard courts right now while Rafa is still better than him on clay. Apart from Rafa, he is way better than every other player on clay and that difference is bigger than his difference from other top 10 players on hard courts.
 
Steve0904 said:
It's still clay because he would have at least one RG if not for Nadal, and probably two.

And Fed blew that Masters. Thiem really had no business winning it.

All that aside, I just think his long wind ups and heavy strokes are very suited to clay so he's much more difficult to play against for an opponent. His only problem on clay has been a problem for literally everyone else in the last 15 years (and counting).
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:o_O
What does this mean?
A 25-year-old player should beat his much older opponent in a systematic way.
Thiem deservedly won Indian Wells 2019.
:cool:
 
It's clay. But an odd situation when his results look better on hard courts despite it being a weaker surface for him.
 
There are twice as many hard court masters. And twice as many hard court slams for that matter.

He's still better on clay.
 
He is the Prince of Clay, and possibly the Prince of Slow Hardcourts. But have to give the slight nod to his clay abilities.
 
Clearly clay. Thiem's HC record is highly overrated. His win over Federer at IW is his only HC Masters final, and until 2020, his HC slam record was pitiful.
 
5-3 on hardcourt in finals (1 slam final, 1 tour final final, 1 masters win, 3 500 wins, 1-1 250 finals. 9th final coming tomorrow.
 
It's clay, and not even close.
This discussion will be officially over in a month when Thiem knocks off Nadal for RG.
Maybe.
 
King No1e said:
It's clay, and not even close.
This discussion will be officially over in a month when Thiem knocks off Nadal for RG.
Maybe.
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Thiem might be exhausted by that point. Back to back Slams from hards to clay is going to be very tough. His body will be broken.
 
Steve0904 said:
It's still clay because he would have at least one RG if not for Nadal, and probably two.

And Fed blew that Masters. Thiem really had no business winning it.

All that aside, I just think his long wind ups and heavy strokes are very suited to clay so he's much more difficult to play against for an opponent. His only problem on clay has been a problem for literally everyone else in the last 15 years (and counting).
Click to expand...
I think we have at least another 3 years of that problem left, 6 at absolute most ;)
 
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