Dominic Thiem has emerged as one of the most promising players’ on the ATP Tour. He has been the most competitive young star on the clay court events. The Austrian always had the game to do well on this surface. He has the stamina, mental strength and aggressive game from the baseline, which is necessary on the red-dirt. The 25-year-old also has a variety of shots which can surprise his opponents.
Last week, he conquered the Barcelona Open title defeating the king of clay on his favorite surface in the semi-finals. He became the first player after the Serbian Novak Djokovic to beat Rafael Nadal on the clay court four times in his career. He has the second-best win-loss record 4-7 against the Spaniard on clay. While Novak Djokovic has the best win-loss record 7-16 against the 11-time French Open champion on clay.
Dominic Thiem won 3 ATP 250 events in 2015. In the 2016 season, he conquered two other clay court events at the Buenos Aires and Nice. But the year 2017 was the breakthrough year for the 25-year-old. The next-gen star showed some promising performance and won the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro. The European red stuff was dominated by Thiem in 2017. He reached the finals of the ATP 500 in Barcelona. He also reached the finals of the Madrid Masters but losing in both the occasions against the King of Clay. But Thiem finds his mistakes and came back stronger against Rafael Nadal after losing two straight matches against the Spaniard. Dominic defeated the 32-year-old at the Rome Masters in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. But he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in Rome.
The clay court season was coming to an end with the start of Roland Garros. The Austrian again showed some class on the red surface in Paris. It was a rematch against Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open. Thiem did not disappoint this time and defeated the world no. 1 in straight sets. In the semifinals, he against lost to the 17-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal.
The clay war between Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem continued in the next year when Thiem ended the sequence of 50 consecutive victorious sets for Nadal. Dominic defeated Rafa in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters. It was undoubtedly the biggest victory for the next-gen star on clay. He surely is the next competitor for Nadal to dominate the clay season as no other players are consistent on this surface.
Thiem has already won titles at the Indian Wells and Barcelona, this season and will enter the Roland Garros with a ranking of no. 5 in the world. But the question is will he be able to conquer his first grand slam event at the French Open 2019? Only time will tell if the Austrian is able to continue his momentum at the biggest clay court event.
Watch this Video
