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Rafael Nadal has just one more hurdle to overcome before a French Open final, but it’s the only man who has beaten him on clay this year, Dominic Thiem standing in his way. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the second semi-final from around 11:30pm (AEST).
After making the final of the Australian Open to start 2017, Nadal was always expected to go big in Paris and he hasn’t failed to live up to expectations.
He dropped just a single match all clay court season and is yet to drop a set at the French Open, dropping just 22 games across his five sets.
Even with a retirement from Pablo Carreno-Busta in the quarter-final, he is dropping less than two games per set on average, and it shows there is simply no one who has been able to go with him for even the smallest period of time.
His fourth-round demolition of Roberto Bautista Agut was probably the most impressive as he knocked out his seeded countryman 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in a display that screamed dominance.
As mentioned though, Thiem is the only man who has managed to beat Nadal on the red stuff this year, and he will take come confidence out of that.
He has been the second best player on clay this season, with the Austrian losing the final in both Barcelona and Madrid to Nadal before finally getting over the top of the world No.4 in Rome. What made it more impressive was the straight sets nature.
Thiem has improved each time he has faced Nadal, but then, Nadal looks in better form now than what he did in Rome.
Like Nadal, Thiem is yet to drop a set at Roland Garros. He rolled over the top of Bernard Tomic in the first round and hasn’t looked back, recording seemingly simple wins over Simone Bolleli, Steve Johnson and Horacio Zeballos to get into the quarter-finals.
There, he faced Novak Djokovic who had beaten him in Rome. Despite that, Thiem came out all guns blazing, won a first set tie-breaker and then held to love in the third set in what was a fantastic display.
As poor as Djokovic was, Thiem has a way of using his power and working out opponents the more he plays them, so the fact he has played Nadal three times this year leaves him in with a shot.
The problem for the Austrian is that Nadal will have had time to review from his last defeat to Thiem, and those matches were three-set affairs. This is a completely different beast.
Prediction
Thiem will push Nadal, but it would be a shock to see the fourth seed bounced out of the tournament. Regardless, whoever wins this match will go into the favourite as final, and don’t be shocked if it’s Nadal.
Nadal in five sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the second men’s semi-final at the French Open from around 11:30pm (AEST) or at the completion of Andy Murray versus Stan Wawrinka and don’t forget to add a comment below.