Dominic Thiem: 'Rafael Nadal will come back stronger after Monte Carlo'
After being the dominant figure on the slowest surface for the last 15 years, Rafael Nadal has created an aura of an unbeaten player on clay after achieving so much on it throughout a career. For that reason, every loss he suffers on the favorite surface is the main topic in the world of tennis for the next couple of days, which is precisely what happened to him on Saturday in the semi-final of Monte Carlo when Fabio Fognini took him down 6-4, 6-2. It wasn't Rafa's day by any means and this was one of the toughest losses for him on clay in the last 15 years after he started to win ATP titles on dirt, barely escaping a bagel in the second set and never looking comfortable against the rival who won the title on Sunday.
Fabio became only the fourth player with at least three ATP wins on clay against Rafa and the other could meet Rafa in Barcelona this week and try to steal another clay title from the mighty Spaniard. Dominic Thiem took down Nadal in Buenos Aires 2016, Rome 2017 and Madrid last year, also reaching the finals in Barcelona and Madrid in 2017 and Roland Garros a year ago that Nadal had won, knowing how to master the greatest clay-courter in the history of the game and make a name for himself, especially after winning the title at Indian Wells.
Thiem's clay run was not that good so far in 2019 and he will try to change that in Barcelona, facing Yoshihito Nishioka or Diego Schwartzman (he forgot to sign in time) in the second round. Speaking about Nadal's Monte Carlo loss, Thiem admitted that could have happened to any player and that Rafa is still the player to beat here in Barcelona or on clay in general in the rest of the season.
"Everyone has to lose sometime, even Nadal, but I think he will come even stronger here in Barcelona, he was injured after Indian Wells and probably didn't have time to practice a lot, which doesn't change the fact he is the biggest favorite for the title here. Of course, some other players may start thinking 'I can beat him as well' now. Besides Monte Carlo and Roland Garros, it is the hardest task to beat him here in Barcelona because he feels so good on the court, the conditions are slow and it very tough to place a winner against him. He still has so much power in his groundstrokes and he is capable of generating enough power to create winners. It is always a surprise when Nadal doesn't win the tournament on clay and he is the main favorite in Paris."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2USCdaw
No comments