Competition for Rafael Nadal will heat up on Saturday in Buenos Aires in the form of Dominic Thiem, who will go up against the Spaniard during semifinal action. The winner may have an advantage in the title match, as No. 2 seed David Ferrer still has to complete his rain-delayed quarterfinal contest against Pablo Cuevas.
Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in the semifinals of the Argentina Open on Saturday. Their only previous showdown came in round two of the 2014 French Open, with Nadal cruising 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Fast forward more than a full season and Thiem is now a three-time ATP tournament champion and has climbed to No. 19 in the world. All three of the 22-year-old Austrian’s titles have come at 250-point events on outdoor clay, such as this one in Buenos Aires. Thiem is two victories away from another winner’s trophy after taking out Pablo Carreno Busta, Gastao Elias (saved one match point), and Dusan Lajovic.
Solid but unspectacular since getting a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed, Nadal ended Juan Monaco’s comeback tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 victory before scraping past Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(3), 6-2 on Friday. The fifth-ranked Spaniard is seeking a second consecutive title at the Argentina Open.
This is a huge opportunity for Thiem–even on clay–given Nadal’s relative lack of dominance at the moment. While the 14-time major champion is obviously right at home on the slow stuff, it is also the underdog’s favorite surface. It remains to be seen, though, how Thiem’s one-handed backhand will stand up to Nadal’s heavy topspin. His one-hander is flashy, but it is not as consistent as Richard Gasquet’s or as powerful as Stan Wawrinka’s. Count on this one being competitive, with Nadal ultimately wearing Thiem down in a physical baseline battle.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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Well what a non surprise. Nadal let everyone down once again as a huge favorite. Luckily I black listed him last time he cost me a lot of money and I put a decent wager on theim. Thank you nadal for letting hour fans down once again and thank u thiem $$$$$
was easy cash. What were the odds?
These losses will keep hurting him. If things don’t change, one day he won’t feel like going on court and losing to literally everybody out there.
I hope he wins in Rio. Somehow!
Even had match point today! Played that one quite poorly as well.
Halfa-Rafa over halfa-Rafa deja vu all over again.
No slams for Rafa this year.
2-2 on the year. Needs to make changes now before it’s too late.
it would be really stupid to predict him right now to win a slam this year.
Adding a new member in the team will not bring any sort of tsunami to his tennis life. If he loses in Rio , perhaps it would be time to seriously think about doing that.
here’s hoping vr!!! hoping with zero expectation though…
Now I realise why I seemed to the only tenngrander watching Monfils v Kolbi. I had forgotten BA overlapped Rotterdam SF.
Glad I couldn’t see it. Too, too depressing for words. At least i had the sense not to make a prediction but I stared in disbelief when I saw the scoreline. I joined the Thiem fan club two years ago but never anticipated he would be beating Rafa on clay so soon.
He didn’t.
Halfa-Rafa did.
At least you saw a real tennis match rather than this error fest.
nny, am leaving you a message here as i know you will read here later to say that i really hope you are not feeling too upset.
better to have no expectations in relation to rafa right now.
yeah…she’ll be upset of course…. I try not to have expectations but the losses still hurt..
Especially when it’s within his control to do something about it.
Amy,
I am upset. A lot. I know that you have emailed me to help me get through and maybe I need some more of that. I have been just sick at heart.
I don’t care about the why of it anymore. I just can’t bear to see Rafa like this.
I am doing well health wise now. No more procedures on my back. I am in physical therapy and doing a lot better.
I am grateful for that. But I am just heartbroken to see what is happening with Rafa.
your optimism tends to be your undoing though, don’t you think vr??!!
that’s when the pain sets in….
Didnt get to watch any of his matches. I think he has problem with humidity these days and I heard he has an upset stomach?
It seems that Rafa has poor conditioning these days and cant deal with humidity (and also the competition!) I even think that he should stay in Europe and play at Rotterdam next year (if he’s still playing), for Rotterdam is not a very quick court unlike 2009 when he last played there.
I think he will struggle at Rio too cos of the humidity; just hope that come the Olympics in Rio, he can be the flag bearer for Spain even though he may not win anything there.
Lucky,
Didn’t you say that things would improve on clay?
It sounds like excuses to blame the humidity and heat for this loss. Since when does Rafa have problems winning when it’s humid?
Yes he had; he was struggling with humidity at Rio all along and he was struggling at USO last year.
Well excuses or not, dont place much hope or expectation on him then! If you dont want to feel upset.
Lucky,
I don’t place any expectations on Rafa these days. I even said before the tournament started that I did not want to make any predictions about how he would do. I just wanted to see how he looked.
In every match he played, I just felt that something was off with him. He didn’t seem to be himself, more subdued.
I don’t like seeing Rafa this way. He doesn’t seem happy either. His will to win, that competitive spirit, doesn’t seem to be there.
I will decide if I watch or don’t watch Rafa play. That’s my choice. I also reserve the right to have my feelings about what is happening with him now. I am not blind. I can see that something is very wrong,
I also do not believe that time is on rafa’s side. I think there are some things that he can do to deal with his lack of confidence and mental focus and concentration. If it were me, I would move heaven and earth to try to get help.
Had you watched any of his matches, you wouldn’t blame it on the humidity.
#verdasco
I said what I think about part of the problem being age. Note the caveat in that sentence and in my previous comments.
Can we stop this business of beating something to death over and over just to prove that it’s all about being right?
I feel bad enough right now seeing Rafa law lose in a 250 tournament, when yet again he had match point.
Did not see the match but after carefully observing Rafa’s statistics in the previous matches and by reading your comments I realized Rafa was struggling more than anyone expected. I did not want to comment Rafa’s prospects against Thiem just thought if Rafa’s back is put against the wall meaning if forced to a tiebreak of the third he will lose the match. Rafa is not mentally strong for key moments of the match and his game falls apart irrelevant of who his opponent is…”verdasco syndrome”
natashao gets it.
Do you? Or don’t you.
Meet the new brand,
same as the old brand.
Verdasco syndrome! How appropriate.
I just do not understand how rafa’s team can let him go out there like this.
The way Rafa played that to was just so not like him. I have been concerned about hm all week because he was struggling against players who could not challenge him.
Also, what about when Rafa was so sick to his stomach in that match at the 2015 AO against Smyczek! He almost threw up on the court, yet he came back to win the match! So let’s just stop with excuses like humidity and upset stomach.
Ok so he was bad all round. Does that make you feel better now?
Ferrer OUT
Lucky,
You really don’t have to go there. Just let me have my feelings! Other people here aren’t taking it so personally and neither should you.
I am not saying he is bad all around! I am seeing that he is struggling.
I really don’t have anything more to say to you since you do not get where I am coming from and why I feel the way I do.
Whoa!! What the heck is going on today?? This is the final no one expected probably. I know I didn’t. Damn. Almagro defying the odds this week. This is huge for his confidence as this is definitely his best tennis that I can remember since coming back from injury a few years ago or something like that. He hasn’t been a threat like he used to be since the injury but maybe now he can get back to the form that had him at 9 in the world back in 2011. We’ll see how he bodes against Thiem. Minor really sure on that one but right now I’m leaning towards Thiem.
I’m not* (not Minor) lol.
It’s not the final that was expected, that’s for sure!
RT @BenRothenberg: Truly awful match, and it ends with Thiem taking it 7-4 in a third set TB over Rafa Nadal. Don’t let long scoreline sugarcoat this stinker.
Ben gets it.
Do you? Or don’t you.
Thiem was not that bad
I don’t care how pathetic Nadal is right now. If you are 22 years old, beat Nadal on clay, and save a match point in the process, you’ve done something right–regardless of the circumstances.
#Fognini
#verdasco
I had a feeling Thiem might win. He’s got a really good game generally and is one of those guys that would anyway trouble Nadal on a good day. Hope he wins now. Need to see new faces on tour.
agreed
agreed with all 5 points, in fact
I can see Rafa losing in Rio then saying he contracted the Zika virus then blaming this for another lousy year. With this virus rampant they should cancel this tournament and move the Olympics too. Women are not going at this point.
Can’t believe how far Thiem positions himself behind the baseline.He’s not going to last long doing that.
Yes he will. It’s the correct strategy on clay. He doesn’t do it on hard courts.
not the correct strategy against Nadal. Well, the normal Nadal..
right. Thiem knew how to beat this Nadal.
So did verdasco, almagro and fogna to name a few.
Nothing special.
Almagro will beat Thiem probably. He won’t hit short like Halfa-Rafa.