For just the second time in their careers, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem will be squaring off on a surface other than clay.
Tennis fans can only hope it’s as good as their first hard-court encounter.
In the quarterfinals of the 2018 U.S. Open, Nadal outlasted Thiem 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(5). Now they will collide in the same stage of the 2020 Australian Open on Wednesday. Although it marks a rare hard-court contest, to say Nadal and Thiem are no strangers would be a gross understatement. This is their 14th meeting overall, with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head series 9-4. Nadal is 5-0 at the Austrian’s expense in Grand Slam situations, including 4-0 at the French Open following a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 triumph in last year’s final.
Like Nadal, Thiem is definitely at his best on clay–but he is showing signs of possibly becoming a future slam champion not only at Roland Garros but also at the others. From a surface standpoint, the Aussie should be the world No. 5’s second-best slam and he is finally putting together an appropriate run Down Under. Thiem is through to the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the first time with victories over Adrian Mannarino, Alex Bolt, Taylor Fritz, and Gael Monfils.
“He’s playing well,” Nadal assured following Thiem’s 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 fourth-round rout of Monfils. “I saw him play against Gael. He was playing a very high level the tennis. We know each other well. He’s a player that I like a lot–the way that he work, the way that he plays, and the way that he tries his best always.”
Nadal does the same, of course, and he had to be at his best in order to advance on Monday. Nick Kyrgios as usual came to play in that particular matchup and tested the world No. 1 throughout a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) nail-biter that lasted three hours and 38 minutes. Nadal preceded that result with much more routine defeats of Hugo Dellien, Federico Delbonis, and Pablo Carreno Busta.
Over the past five years, both Kyrgios and Thiem have learned the hard way that beating Nadal in a best-of-five scenario is a whole different beast than best-of-three. All four of Thiem’s wins have come in the latter form, with only one of the four going the three-set distance. In just about every extended battle, Nadal has enjoyed the upper hand–and it is not hard to figure out why. Although Thiem’s peak is world No. 1 kind of stuff (see the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals against Novak Djokovic as one example), his high-risk, high-reward style does not always withstand the demands of best-of-five tennis. Mentally, physically, and stylistically, Nadal is a five-set force.
The top seed’s greater margin for error on his shots and his superior experience toward the business end of majors should be the difference in what is likely to be an entertaining, high-quality affair.
Pick: Nadal in 5
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It’s over! Rafa lost three TBs in one match!
Rafa playing like this don’t deserve to win! Congrats to Thiem, he deserves to win this match! Well done!
Rafa has himself to blame, for losing a winnable match like this. I don’t know how much Thiem has left for the SF against Sasha.
He is fit and young. He’ll be ready
wasnt even close to one of Thiem’s most physical matches
he will be fine for the semis and final
In the end, Rafa lost this match by his own mistake…Thiem gave him plenty of chances but Rafa failed to capitalize..,some very lucky points for Dominik, the net has helped a lot, obviously it was meant to be for him…
That’s it!…Rafa deserved the loss with his crappy play in the 1st 2 sets…and Thiem with his amazing perfomance & stay strong mentally deserves the win…Congrats Thiem & fans!
Hey guys, give Rafa a break. You can’t win’em all.
Happy for Thiem 🙂
The ao curse, the qf curse after preceding years final, the pink curse all came into play ..
Now only solace will be if thiem wins it all
The Australian open is djokovic’s to lose. Nobody remaining stands a chance of beating him in a best of 5sets. Federer won’t win a set except by a miracle and thiem and zverev can’t beat him in this court, this is not clay where thiem stands a good chance. Only medvedev and stan, especially stan can beat him in this court and they are gone. Considering the way djoko is playing, it seems inevitable. It seems rafa cant play a high level of tennis from one slam to another. He plays well in one and plays badly in the other. This was a terrible performance but he atleast he tried. Needs to go and improve tremendously in every department.
Better that he lost to thiem than be humiliated by djokovic again in the final. Congrats thiem.
I have no hope for tomorrows match cxoncerning fed, he’ll lose easily. If only miracles can happen and fed turns Godmode and plays his best tennis against djokovic. But that’s a pipe dream. Barring unforseen circumstances, djokovic will win the semifinal and final probably in straight sets.
I didn’t see the match. Just skimread the thread here and it seems like Rafa lost the match mentally. That is so bizarre given he had just beaten NK and should have been full.of confidence.
This problem with serving for the set and getting broken has been going on for ages. It’s a big problem! Think how many times he has squandered sets because of it, or nearly lost them!
I had a bad feeling about this match for some reason. I think Zverev will beat Dom now that he has suddenly found form in a slam.
I don’t like that Rafa lost to Dom here. Makes me more nervous if they play at RG! Ie nervous that Rafa will be nervous!
Why was he nervy playing Dom for heavens sake! He seems to obsess about past situations even when he won ie at the USO!
Always giving his opponents too much respect..😠
I woke up a few times to see the score. Once Rafa was down two sets I knew it was over. I did see him win the third set, but did not want him to risk injury by going five sets. I read the comments here and it was disheartening to realize that Rafa was serving for the first set then he was broken. Unlike with Kyrgios, this time it cost him. Then I saw him get broken when up a break in the second set. So I knew he was in trouble. I finally stayed up for the fourth set. But to see Rafa lose three tiebreaks in a match is very disappointing. It’s like he beat himself. As good as Thiem is, Rafa just let get away from him. With one day of rest and this hideous draw, it was always going to be an uphill battle. Novak avoided the players who could trouble him. Rafa staggering into the final on fumes is not something I wanted to see. This slam is really cursed for Rafa.
Hi nny! I didn’t see the match. Very frustrating to see him beat himself. If the other player is on fire that is different.
amy,
I agree with you! I also had a bad feeling about this match. Just one of those gut feelings. This business of getting broken while serving for the set, is very concerning. At the least it lengthens the match and involved more time and effort. Rafa has to work harder.
I think playing Kyrgios in the fourth round takes it out of Rafa. That is the toughest opponent he could have at that stage of the tournament. But it is tough to see that Rafa had his chances and could have won this match. When I heard that he was up a break in both sets one and two only to be broken back, is extremely frustrating. I did not want to see Rafa stagger into the final only to be blown away again. So maybe it’s for the best.
Yes nny! I think rafa, and us, were very focused on the NK threat and there was a bit of a slackening off afterwards. I did kind of have a bad feeling. Also, Rafa will.be 34 soon! Players do.have far more of these ups and downs and lapses in concentration as they get older. We saw that with Fed looking great one match and then making inexplicable errors the next and losing focus. ( not talking about Fed now but the gradual decline starting years before) And Rafa is more vulnerable.than Fed because he doesn’t have a great serve. I think we just have to accept that these losses are going to.happen as he gets older.
Having said that, something really needs to be done about his getting nervous and losing serve while serving for the set! If he didn’t keep doing that things would be so much easier. That is mental.
Nny..i saw that you wrote that Rafa will make it to face thiem but stopped at that..i also had this gut that qf exit will happen..are you thinking Rafa will get 20 or 21 ?
Sanju,
I absolutely think that Rafa will get to 20 or 21! This was always going to be tough. I do think that Rafa overplayed with DC. I think he only had two weeks off. Then that ATP tournament. Too much. He dud not look sharp right from the beginning, but seemed to get going against PCB. Then he played very well to beat Kyrgios. I was concerned about Thiem. I saw two of his matches and he was looking good. Rafa had a tough road here.
We have RG to look forward to. I feel confident that Rafa will get there! 😀
Thanks nny. Hope he gets to 21 sooner than later so that we are spared the ordeal of waiting
At least I’m spared the nightmare of Rafa getting hammered by Djoko in a slam final.
Rafa just has to forget about winning the AO, just concentrates on winning the FO, and if possible one more Wimbledon and maybe some more USO? AO is not meant for Rafa to win, because at the start of the season, everyone is fresh and so the best HC players are physically and mentally dialed in so it’s very difficult to win the AO.
It’s only the best HC players, who play the HC game well will win the AO often. Rafa winning it in 2009 playing a clay court game was because he’s young and physically very fit and quick. Now that Rafa is much older, depending so much on his legs to run from so far behind the baseline won’t work for him, as he’s really at the mercy of the big hitting, big serving, or the aggressive all court players.
It’s sad that Rafa simply reverted back to playing clay court style defensive tennis on the HCs, when he was playing a HC game so well at the DC last year; and it’s only when he’s about to lose in straight sets that he’s a bit more willing to move forward to play a little bit more offensive tennis but that’s not enough.
Thiem and Stan at least plays with raw power and attacking mindset on the HCs, despite clay court being their fave surface. Rafa will always be a counterpuncher no matter what, so will have a problem against hard hitting players who can play well on the HCs.
lucky,
I agree about Rafa not being meant to win another AO. As much as I want the double career slam for him, it does not seem destined to happen. If it isn’t injuries, it’s a lousy draw. No way did I want to see Novak steamroll Rafa in another final!
Rafa had a terrible draw with only a day of rest before the final. It was just not going to happen. He has to move forward and focus on RG. I would love to see him win another Wimbledon.
I also think it’s probably better he doesn’t play Nole. He would have been playing on fumes and also being on court for hours on end might have triggered the knee problems. We know what happened in 09 and 12.
Let him regroup now for Rg.
Rafa had his chances in two of the four finals which he lost – in 2012 and 2017 finals when he’s a break up in the fifth set, but at such crucial moments his opponents took their chances to turn the table against him. Rafa as he gets older, tends to play too conservatively when he’s ahead, as if for fear of losing the advantage. It’s when Rafa has his back against the wall, that he would be more aggressive to fight back.
I for one don’t like that mentality, I mean why must you be too worried when you are leading? It’s evident when he was serving for sets, he tensed up as if so worried that he would lose the advantage and sure enough, he then lost the advantage.
Rafa may be the warrior with the fighting spirit that we so admired, but these are tennis matches, not real battles in the battle field, why must he take it as if he always has to fight hard in order to win? Just relax and plays his game and trust that his game is good enough to beat almost anyone! When he’s leading all the more he should be feeling confident that he’s going to win, why tense up and then loses a winnable set or even a winnable match?? This is a bad habit that he has developed lately, and Moya couldn’t talk or psych him out of that mindset.
Rafa has all the talent in the world yet he’s trying to cover that up and wants everyone to remember him as a warrior, a hardworking one, so much so that some people are misled to think that his hardworking > his talent.
Rafa has to learn to be comfortable when he’s ahead, and trust that he has the ability to maintain the lead to win the match and stop worrying about anything or everything!
Tennis is saved by Thiem! What a great day when an engineered clay courter gets sent packing home. What a beautiful day! Bye bye Nadull.
grasshater,
What a sad soul you are to come here any time Rafa loses. You seem so consumed by hatred for someone you don’t know, who could care less about a moron like you.
If this is all you can do with your life, then I truly pity you. Because it is a waste of life.
Just ignore him nny! He’s not worth the time spent on writing the post!
I don’t read anything he and a certain other poster write. Life is too short!😀
amy,
Yes more than ever – life is too short and can be gone in an instant. I can put this loss in perspective because nobody died.
I do try to ignore this troll but it is disgusting to see the same garbage any time Rafa loses. I just cannot fathom such an utter waste of life.
Yes darling but it’s a waste of time engaging with him. Trolls crave attention so much the best thing is not to give it to them..!
Yeah I also pity this grass hater guy, must be living a sad life, fill with hatred.
So happy that Rafa leaves the AO not injured, and doesn’t need to face Djoko too. Thanks to Thiem for saving Rafa from further grinding and from any injury, and yes what a relief for many of us his fans, that Rafa can now go resting and relaxing for a bit and go fishing!
I can now watch the rest of the AO feeling calm and relax!
Solace will be if thiem or zverev takes out djoko in final in stunning upset 🙂
Go next gen…
I think Zverev will win the whole thing…Nole will be nervous playing someone younger…
Amy..you know i dont care whether rafa loses here or there..all i want is rafa to reach 21 somehow ..that’s it..he has to somehow reach 21
Today was thiems day..the netchord was his biggest friend .i think minimum 7 to 8 times ball passed the net over to the other side .
Do you know rafa won 5 more points in match..i was just disappointed seeing rafa not playing well with calm in crunch moments..he had no business losing that fourth set..where is that steely rafa..
I didn’t know sanju! I don’t know why he was so on edge especially from good positions ie up a break. It’s very hard to comment on a match I haven’t seen… Maybe he was nervous going in because he lost to Goffin recently? He has to do something about the problem he has serving for the set. If he had taken the first set he would almost certainly have won..
No, I think it’s Thiem who won five more points, not Rafa.
Rafa had no business losing the first set when he’s serving for it, and no business in losing all three TBs, that’s how poor he was in the match.
He’s just rather shaky throughout the match, it’s like he had no belief that he’s going to win the match! It’s just crazy that he’s playing and returning from so far behind the baseline, esp when he’s returning from the deuce court, leaving the whole court wide open for his opponent to hit to and he had to run like crazy to cover the court, that’s how disappointing the way he played.
It’s just strange that against Kyrgios he’s so determined to win but against Thiem, he seemed to lack the belief that he could win. There’s one thing that I really don’t like about Rafa, and that is, he has the tendency to ‘fear’ someone once he either has a bad loss against that someone, or has to grind so hard to win that he became so tense up once he sees that player across the net.
I think he’s a worrier – worry about his opponent, worry about the shot clock, worry about the ball, the humidity, the court surface and it’s bounce, his water bottles etc and etc. No wonder he looks so tense so often, esp when he starts the match serving first and usually struggles to hold serve, and then while serving for the set, he tense up and loses his serve! How often we see that happening these days! He’s no longer the clutch player he used to be when he was younger.
Agreed Rafa messed up when he was up a break but you could see how Rafa was not able to get the needed penetration on his groundstrokes due to the balls. With new balls, Rafa was able to take command but with old balls he was not able to get past Thiem’s quick movement. Federer has been having the issue this fortnight.
Thiem played great and he has so many qualities. His work ethic is similar to Rafa’s and you can see the respect that he has.
I would still have Rafa as the favourite (as long as he is playing well) in their next match in a slam (regardless of the surface) but I expect it to be very close. Rafa ain’t gona lose so many chances again and get beaten in 3 tie breaks in a match.
Part of me did NOT want Rafa to win set 4 because the match was already 4 hrs long. PLaying such a punishing match at qtr finals stage not great for his body.
Rafa has not had any time to recuperate properly and work on specific things in this game given how crazily short the off season was for him. He was back on the court literally after 2 weeks of Davis cup?
He now has some time to rest, work on specific things in his game and come back stronger. I am definitely seeing more willingness to attack the net and I am sure now that he has the time, he’ll incorporate that properly in his game.
He plans on playing Acapulco but I hope he only does that if he feels fully rested. Otherwise, Indian wells it is!
I am still hopeful Rafa will have a strong season with 1-2 slams. He is still playing great and I hope he can fend off Thiem and Novak at RG.
The problem with Rafa is that he has reverted back to playing clay court tennis on HC! I was hopeful that after how he played at the DC, he would adopt that kind of play going forward playing on the HCs, but no, from Abu Dhabi exho onwards, he reverted back to playing from way behind the baseline.
What I can’t stand is the way he returned serves, I mean he’s standing so far back and way out wide when returning from the deuce court leaving his side of the court wide open; it’s no wonder Djoko and Thiem were attacking his FH so often, and Rafa was slow at running to cover his FH corner.
To me his ROS ability has regressed, he relying on his footwork to get to the serve is no longer viable when he’s getting older and older. It’s no wonder he has such poor BP conversion, when he’s returning from so far back giving his opponent so much time and space to intercept his returns.
I don’t know what his team could do for him now, when he’s playing so defensively, so nervously, and losing a winnable match at a slam like this. He didn’t play like a no.1 player in this match, Thiem looked more like the no.1 player, dictating play throughout.
I have to say now that I was not happy that Rafa played DC. I wanted him to have some down time so he could be ready for the AO. I was very frustrated, but kept my thoughts to myself. I think at this point in his career Rafa needs to focus on the slams. He’s done enough DC. He had to carry the load because the Spanish team is older now and not what they were in the past. I thought he risked overdoing it and not having enough time to recuperate in the off season. Then they had this stupid ATP tournament where Rafa played a lot and then lost in the final to Novak. I just wish he would ficus on what is really important now. Everything needs to come together perfectly for him st the AO and that has just not happened.
Nny…i completely agree with u!…heh heh…i thought i am the only who detested Rafa playing DC & esp more so with stupid ATP Cup!…why in God’s name he wants to join along after a huge success in DC!…Where his common sense??I mean ATP Cup was very demanding even tho it was bo3 when u have to face a very high quality player in every round…and that pressure to win for country!..urgh!!
I mean it’s ok to join if he just come back from injury lay off or long resting or didn’t play DC…but he’s already involved in DC just 2 weeks b4!…all he have to do is playing a relax & less pressure tournament like Doha where Stan is the only highest seeded playing there..u know what i mean Nny?Rafa can’t afford to overplayed on hc b4 AO…he’s not that young anymore…
Last year he didn’t involved in many tourneys b4 AO bcoz of his injury but still able to reach final playing a very aggressive tennis in all his 6 matches b4 final…so…i think poor decision or bad judgement from Rafa this year..and he paid for it with huge price!(possibly lost his no 1?)..that’s what i think…i actually didn’t expect him to lose to Thiem at all…i expect him be able to go straight to the final…but yeah…like u guys..i don’t want him to be thrash & got humiliated from Novak again like last year…coz the more loss to novak the more damage he will be,that’s for sure..
Hi Mira, I’m not sure about Kyrgios and the draw. I just blame it on luck of the draw.
I would think if Djoko is given Rafa’s draw, he too would have problem first with Kyrgios and then Thiem. It’s just the luck of the draw, and I was hoping before the AO that Rafa would draw Berrettini in his quarter but it’s Fed who has that luck!
It’s not meant to be for Rafa at the AO, so I think we should stop dreaming of a second career slam for Rafa. I do think having to play the DC and ATP Cup so soon after is not a good idea. Djoko lost early at DC last year and I guess winning the ATP Cup thereafter didnt have too much impact on Djoko compared to Rafa, who’s so involved in the DC in both singles and doubles. However, knowing Rafa, he will continue to play in DC and ATP Cup going forward, so all the more we have to come to term with the fact that he’s not going to do well at the AO.
The AO has slowed the surface and used heavier ball which do not favor both Fed and Rafa; it seems to me it favours big hitters like Thiem and Sasha. I don’t know about Djoko as he’s not really being tested here – Schwartzman not able to pose a challenge while Raonic is too one dimensional with only a big serve to get him out of troubles so often.
I expect Djoko to reach the final here and we have to see how the big hitter (Thiem or Sasha) fares against Djoko.
To me it’s the ATP Cup that’s too much. Fed is wise not to be involved and at least Fed is physically fresh enough to go the distance in his matches and still could win them.
Rafa had to play six singles and one or two doubles plus all the travelling during the ATP Cup, it’s not a good preparation for the AO.
Djoko at least has an easier draw here when the TOP ten players in his quarter fell by the way side (Tsitsipas and Agut) and Schwartzman the highest ranked player left was not competitive enough to trouble Djoko ( and Schwartzman himself was also playing at the ATP Cup).
I do notice that those who played at the ATP Cup had fallen off early in the draw – Tsitsipas, Agut, Shapo, FAA, Lajovic, Goffin, even Medvedev. Sasha was spared when he lost all three singles matches at the ATP Cup.
Djoko is the fittest of them all and he’s still surviving; if he wins this AO, it’ll further prove that he’s the best HC player in this era, ATP Cup or not, it doesn’t matter.
Yeah Lucky!…i noticed too about players who involved in ATP Cup didn’t deliver at AO…including our Rafa!…
I hope he will shun ATP Cup next year…hopefully with good draw he will reach final again…
Ohh btw Lucky….u don’t feel odd that Rafa always draw Nicky at slams?Last year Wimby & now AO?Is it coincidence that Novak & Fed has a good luck by not playing him like…ever!…I wanna see how the draw will unfold at Wimby,USO(i bet Nicky will not play FO again this year!)…if he were in Rafa’s quarter again,then it’s clear someone at the top echelon wanna protect Fed’s 20!…ohohoho!!
No Sanju, it’s Thiem with five more points – 148 vs 143.
More an ant fan than a fan pretty pathetic, congrats Thiem, now win the title ….
Well done, Dominic Thiem! A great win over a great opponent! We’ll now have had a young’un in three of the last four slam finals. Definitely a changing of the guard! Maybe this is the tournament that one of them finally holds the trophy at the end.
Be nice if just for once you showed some respect to Rafa and his fans here Joe!
I said a lot of nice things about Fed when he lost at Rg and wimby and when he beat Rafa in the sf. I also commiserated with, and congratulated his fans here as appropriate including when he beat Rafa at wimby.
It really would be nice if you gave us the same basic courtesy.Instead you always inflate the performance of his opponent and denigrate rafa’s own abilities either explicitly or implicitly.
What are you talking about, Amy? I said it was a win over a great opponent, which I truly believe! I also picked Rafa to win this match and the other day I called him the greatest competitor tennis has seen! What do you want me to say? I was cheering for Thiem to win; the guy deserves a slam win over Rafa after so many losses, and he’s earned it!
I’m not a Rafa fan, but I’m with Eugene: it seems like an awful lot of Rafa fans here are fair-weather, and quick to blame him when he loses. I’d add that they have showed some disrespect to Thiem by implying that he won only because Nadal wasn’t at this best.
I understand that Nadal fans are disappointed. I’m not like grassgoat, who wants to rub their noses in his losses. But I just don’t have the relationship to sports stars (or movie or rock stars, or celebrities) that many people seem to. I don’t understand the emotional reaction people have to Kobe Bryant’s death, though of course I think it is tragic, especially his 13 year old daughter’s death. Similarly, I didn’t relate in the way many did to the deaths of Princess Diana, or Prince, or John Lennon, even though I’m big fans of the latter two’s music. I don’t have any gods or idols, and I don’t believe there are any. We’re all just people, and one of the biggest problems we have is that we elevate some way out of proportion, while we don’t seem to care at all about others, who are much more numerous.
I do appreciate that you were respectful after Fed’s wimby loss last year and commisserated with his fans. Some, such as Benny, really seemed to be suffering. But I’m not one of them. Federer is my favorite tennis player because of the way he plays tennis. But I honestly felt as bad for Tennys Sandgren the other day as I did for Fed after his heart-breaking loss to Djokovic. Federer has won so much, titles, money, fame, that I can’t feel that bad for him after a loss. And I guess I feel the same about Nadal.
amy,
I happen to agree with you! In fact, you said everything that I was feeling. Oh and you damn well better believe that I am heartbroken over the untimely death of a truly great basketball player who has left us too soon. It was not his time to go and for myself, I wanted to see his second act. They joy one gets from seeing an athlete at his very best is something quite special. That does not mean one needs to idolize them, Kobe was not perfect, nor was he a God. But he played basketball superbly, with dedication, conviction and passion. I loved him for it and I am not about to let anyone make me feel less than for my feelings!
I love Rafa and feel truly blessed to have watched him all these years. People should be able to celebrate their favorite athletes, love them as much as they want and derive pleasure and happiness from watching them do what they do best!
I had to get that off my chest because I was so offended by being lectured about not making athletes into Gods! Please give me a break!
He is very fond of these patriarchal speeches nny! I tune out once he starts. I must say it is a cheek of him to accuse us of making someone into a god when he makes himself into one.
Adoration of the other is surely better than adoration of the self!😉
“Adoration of the other is surely better than adoration of the self!”
Good one. But please tell me: what, exactly, did you find so offensive in my original post? (not my speech)
Sorry Amy, you’re wrong. That’s exactly what Rafa fans have done repeatedly and noticeably on this thread.
Putting into perspective ..i thought after his low 15 n 16,rafa is done..he won 5 slams more n resurrected himself n finished no 1 twice . So maybe a final lap n hurrah is pending
You also have to factor in the effects of age sanj u! Players do suffer inexplicable defeats as they get older..that happened with Fed as well from years back…
oh trust me when I say this, Rafa is far more done! He is still exploring more areas of his game. He is a strong contender to win each of the next 3 slams!
Yes of course vr! But surely it is true that,in the same way Fed started to lose matches he should have won, Rafa will as well simply because he is older! Mac has commented on how you have lapse s in concentration as you get older and recovery time simply isn’t the same..I think one has to factor this in..
To me, it is a positive outcome. Rafa was playing good tennis, he beat Kyrgios and has exited the event without getting injured or destroying his body.
He had a tough draw and he’ll move on.
Rafa had a tough draw. Lets be fair guys, big 3 have got old and they need the luck of the draw. Fed had that in AO 2018, Rafa in USO 2017. Rafa in 2019 USO was lucky as well. This AO Rafa had a brutal draw and he was never going to win this.
I also think Rafa overplayed prior to coming to AO. Given a choice, I will much rather have Rafa work his form into the tournament instead of overplaying before.
fedexal,
I see it pretty much the way you do. I gave my feelings about Rafa playing DC. Not a good thing. Then barely two weeks off? Then the ATP tournament? Rafa did overplay prior to the AO. Then he got stuck with a really lousy draw. I felt that it was just a bridge too far.
I think some of Rafans here are disrespectful towards him. Why blaming him for losing? It happens. It’s not always because he’s not good enough. He can play well and still lose if the opponent has has at least the same level. Thiem was slightly better today. You don’t have always To find a reason why someone loses. Sometimes the margins in tennis are very small. Fed could have easily won Wimby 2020 and lose from Milman, instead of winning 6 points in a row without mistake, in a match full of mistakes from him.
I wished Djoko had Thiem in the QF anyway, but that doesn’t matter.He can have Fed in the final.
Today’s thiem Rafa match reminded me of fed tsitsi last year at ao ..high quality..close but small margins and the younger guy went for his shots a bit more
@Eugene,
It’s an emotional reaction. It’s really hard to watch a player you love lose a match you think he should have won. The ups and downs during a match are far worse when you’re watching on tv than when you’re at the match. You have no outlet for the rage or, for that matter, the exhilaration. So you come here and vent. They’ll get over it. (I don’t do this because I rarely watch Rafa play live–the DC final was the last time I did–and after a loss I just want to crawl into a hole and sulk for awhile.) I didn’t watch Rafa’s USO final this year either but I looked at the line score occasionally and when I saw he was at 5-2 and serving for the 5th set – I thought it was all over but the shouting – and turned the tv on. BIG mistake and my screaming started and didn’t really stop for the next half hour. I was traumatized for days, lol. But my respect for those fans who DO watch live increased a lot! Don’t think I could have lived through that match watching live!
Ramara…Very agree with u!…it’s just an emotional reaction!…we love Rafa therefore we want the best for him…that doesn’t mean we don’t respect him or not ‘Rafa enough’ for venting our frustration on him or critisized him everytime he lost…
I think it’s very important to let out our frustrations when rafa losses….if not,i maybe dead a thousand times over bcoz of my high bp!…and it’s all bcoz of innocent Rafa!…urgh!!…Life is sooo cruel!..hehe
Exactly. We criticise Rafa because we think he’s human, not a god; he makes mistakes that we think he should not and hope he improves next time.
It’s not like we only love him because he wins, it’s because we always wish the best for him and find that opportunities are getting lesser and lesser as he ages that’s why we feel disappointed that he doesn’t make full use of them!
Yeah!…very true Lucky!
My commiserations to all Rafa fans. Rafa fought as hard as he could, and came so close to pushing it to a 5th, but Thiem was just too good today. I am so impressed with Thiem, particuarly with how hard he has clearly worked to improve on hard court. He has just become an extremely good tennis player, who is capable on going toe-to-toe with the best players in the world. It felt in this match like he wasn’t just trying to blast low-margin winners all night like he previously had against Rafa. He tried to be a little more steady, and was content to grind with Rafa. I’m not sure why I didn’t completely notice this before, but Thiem is SO fast! He’s able to get into position so quickly, and he is able to generate so much power, even in positions where you’d think he shouldn’t be able to. The guy is just awesome.
Finally getting past Rafa at a major was a tremendous hurdle for Thiem. I was highly impressed by how he was able to keep his composure after having choked serving for the match. Thiem was just the better player today, and he made Rafa incredibly uncomfortable. You could see how understandably frustrated Rafa was getting with how he consistently wasn’t able to match Thiem today.
Also, when it comes to likeability, I honestly think that Thiem might be one of the most likeabke top players ever. I would love nothing more than to see him win his maiden major title this weekend. But he still has more MASSIVE hurdles to face. I really hope that he doesn’t have a let down in the SF after probably the most emotional win of his career thus far. No offense to Zverev, but Thiem is just a better player and tougher competitor than him. After such a big win against Rafa, it would just be sad if he lost meekly to Zverev. If Zverev won in a really tight, epic match, then that would be understandable. But I just pray that he doesn’t have a major letdown and lose meekly. We shall see!
I think he may well.lose to Zverev. He is better against the top 3 in many ways…against players younger than him he really puts himself under pressure and makes a lot of errors. Against Tsitsi in the wtf he was literally shouting at himself right from the offset every time he made a mistake and he never really played as he can. I fear it will be the same against Zverev where he will have everything to lose and Zverev will be able to relax.
Thiem may still have outside chance against Djokovic .zverev won’t
Zverev beat Nole in the wtf! It’s possible he can do it again..
Here’s my concern with Zverev, Amy- before his win over Stan yesterday, had Zverev ever beaten a single player at a major who is even as good as him, let alone better than him? I honestly can’t think of a time when Zverev has ever beaten anyone who was on his level or better. The win over Stan was impressive, but we have just seen so little evidence that he can beat a fellow top player in a big best-of-5 match. If you’re argument for picking Zverev is that Thiem could have a letdown, but I don’t know where you get the idea that Zverev has been better against top-5 players. Sure, he’s scored some great wins in best-of-3. But Thiem has now beaten both of the two best players in the world at majors before. Not only has Zverev not done that, but has he ever beaten a top-5 player at a major? Or even Top-7? Maybe he had and I’m just forgetting it? Winning big matches at the majors is an entirely different thing to doing it at Masters tournaments. Thiem has now made numerous slam SF, and twice made a the final. Before yesterday, had Zverev even made it to the QF of a major more than once? But here’s the thing- we all know that Zverev has the game to win majors! This is what has been so frustrating about him. But he just hasn’t been able to play his best when it’s really mattered. But that doesn’t mean that he’s not going to eventually rise to the occasion and do it. Of course he can beat Thiem. I just don’t understand what evidence there is to think he should be favored over Thiem in this match. And he certainly shouldn’t be more favored than Thiem to best Djokovic at a major when Thiem has at least done it before, while Zverev has never come close.
Sorry Kevin I think you misunderstood me. I meant that Thiem is better against the top 3! He really brings it against them but sometimes loses it against weaker opponents where he puts himself under a lot of pressure. If he does that against Zverev he may well lose. Not because Zverev is a better player but because Dom starts shouting at himself and getting anxious and uptight as he did against Tsitsi in the wtf.
The thing about Sasha not making past the QF of a slam – that’s because he consumed too much energy during the early rounds, needing five sets so often to beat the early round opponents, so when he’s at R4 or QF, he tend to run out of energy.
Notice that in this AO, he beat all his opponents in straight sets, and it’s until meeting Stan in the QF that he lost his first set in the tournament. He looks physically fresh, and I feel perhaps the courts here – a bit slow – plus the heavy balls favor his style of play. He’s a hard hitter kind of player, not unlike Delpo.
I think the court this year favours the hard hitters and so both Thiem and Sasha are able to beat their older more established opponents to reach the SF.
If Sasha plays well, we may have a repeat of the result of Madrid 2018. Sasha when playing well is also a formidable player, he’s able to beat Djoko and Fed in a Masters final and pushed Rafa to the limit at Rome 2018 final.