Rafael Nadal on Dominic Thiem: 'He has huge potential to tap'
Rafael Nadal is just two wins away from an unprecedented 10th Roland Garros championship. Standing in his way is 23-year-old Austrian sensation Dominic Thiem, who shocked the tennis world Wednesday when he crushed defending champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the 2017 French Open quarter-final.
Thiem is one of the fastest rising stars on the ATP circuit. The only player to defeat Nadal in this year's clay-court season, Thiem was overwhelmed by the Spaniard in back-to-back finals at Barcelona and Madrid before returning the favour during the quarter-final of the Italian Open. At the Rome Masters, Thiem beat Nadal 6-4, 6-3 to snap the Spaniard's 17-game winning streak, essentially putting the world on notice about his exploits on clay. That's why Thiem was given the third best pre-tournament odds to prevail at Roland Garros, favoured to go the distance more than top-ranked players such as Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
On paper, Nadal is the odds-on favourite. But the Spaniard knows that the red-hot Thiem poses a legitimate threat. "He’s a very good player. He hits the ball very hard. He’s very powerful on both sides. Forehand, backhand, serve. These weapons are quite good. He steps in the court. He has a huge potential to tap, and he can hit the ball very hard," Nadal said on the eve of the 2017 French Open semi-final, via The Telegraph.
Dominic Thiem poses legitimate threat to Nadal
Thiem is entering only his second Grand Slam semi-final. "I mean, it's a joke how tough it is to win a Slam. Now I beat Novak. On Friday, (it's) Nadal. In the finals, there is another top star. That's why it's a slam because it's such a tough achievement. I just have to watch that I'm not giving him his favourite positions on the forehand. I mean, it's one of the best shots I think ever in tennis. So anyway, you cannot avoid it all the time. I will concede some winners on Friday," said the ATP Next Gen star.
Nadal is now 22-1 on clay this year, which includes victories at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. On Wednesday, Nadal also registered his career 100th best-of-five-sets victory on clay from just 102 matches, with his only losses coming at the French Open, to Robin Soderling in the 2009 quarter-final and to Novak Djokovic in the 2015 Round of 8. The 14-time time Grand Slam champion also improved his career Roland Garros win-loss record to 77-2 and could potentially finish with a 79-2 record after Sunday's final.
Rafael Nadal marched into the semi-finals of the 2017 French Open Wednesday after fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta retired midway through the second set of their quarter-finals match. He has the opportunity to become the first player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam on ten occasions.
