There will most likely never be another clay-court player like Rafael Nadal. But if there is any player to whom the torch would be passed, it is Dominic Thiem.
In a second straight French Open final between those two competitors, there was no proverbial passing of said clay-court torch…. Not even close. Thiem snagged a set this time after getting trounced in the 2018 championship match, but Nadal still triumphed 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Spaniard captured his 12th title at Roland Garros after three hours and one minute of play.
Nadal was a huge favorite, of course, heading into the contest. After all, he was already a 17-time major champion and competing in his 12th French Open final; this was Thiem’s second-ever slam final appearance. It also did not help the underdog that he was taking the court for a fourth consecutive day due to rain delays earlier in the week. That grueling stretch included a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 semifinal upset of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, which did not wrap up until Saturday evening.
Nonetheless, Thiem was not about to go down quietly this time around.
Eager to deliver a better performance than what resulted in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 beatdown at Nadal’s hands in last year’s final, the Austrian came out blazing. Although he lost the opening set after leading by an early break, Thiem displayed incredible defense time and time again and winning more than a few hard-to-believe baseline rallies.
Improved serving in the second allowed Thiem to take a set–and deservedly so, too, as he likely would have won the first against just about any other player in the field. The world No. 4 held without much trouble en route to a 6-5 lead and then broke Nadal from out of nowhere to level the match at a set apiece.
Nadal, however, made sure that the extent of Sunday’s drama would end right then and there.
“I had a little drop,” Thiem said of his start to the third set, “which is against most of the players not that bad. But he took the chance and stepped right on me…. He was coming out in the third set like a rocket. Full power…. He came out firing.”
Nadal came out with the first four games of the third, to be exact, thus completely regaining control of the match. The 33-year-old blasted 10 winners compared to just two unforced errors and did not drop a single service point in set three. He worked similar magic in the fourth, seizing a 3-0 lead and thoroughly squashing any hopes his opponent had of a comeback. Thiem at least earned break points in two different games but he could not capitalize.
After missing his first championship point, Nadal converted his second chance at 5-1, 40-30 when Thiem sent a return just past the baseline.
With that, the King of Clay is now the Roland Garros champion–in the famous words of the tournament MC when he is introduced for each match–in “deux mille quatre, deux mille cinq, deux mille six, deux mille sept, deux mille huit, deux mille dix, deux mille onze, deux mille douze, deux mille treize, deux mille quatorze, deux mille dix-sept, deux mille dix-huit, et deux mille dix-neuf.”
From his first appearance in 2005 to the present day 14 years later, the numbers are as follows: 12 finals, 12 titles, and a laughable 93-2 record.
“It is incredible,” Nadal assured. “I can’t explain what I have achieved and how I feel. It was a dream to play here for the first time in 2005. I never thought in 2019 I’d still be here. It’s an incredible moment and very special for me.”
“Many–or all–guys fail to [beat Nadal in (the) Roland Garros finals,” Thiem concluded. “Just the numbers are crazy. He won it 12 times. Twelve times the opponents in the finals failed to beat him. So also, me.”
Thiem will in all likelihood lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires one day. The question is: how long is Nadal going to make him wait?
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congrats
Vamos Rafa!
What a stunning stunning achievement! If one only watched the french open this year one would think Rafa was his usual dominant self throughout the clay season. Considering where he was at MC and Barcelona, the way the title has been won is nothing short of incredulous.
He has as many french open titles as the total of novaks australian opens and feds us opens Considering they are winningest players at those slams.
Kudos to the GOAT!!!
Congratulations, Ricky you almost got 10/10!
Semifinals
Thiem over Djokovic in 5
Nadal over Wawrinka in 3
Final
Nadal over Thiem in 4
amazing!
La décima is here.
Words fail. He’s doubled Borg who in the day was an unbeatable legend…..
At this point he must almost be hoping for someone to beat him in a RG final once and for all.
Sorry, not la décima but la duodécima!!
Nice picks, Rick….and Congrats to Rafa….the King of Clay!!!!
Congrats to Rafa and all his fans for completing the “Dirty Dozen”!
Considering Rafa’s lack of shape and motivation at the beginning of the clay season, his 12th win is a quiet miracle and may well be one of the greatest achievements of his long career. It’s just not that obvious to the casual observers since Rafa winning RG has become the normal state of affairs.
“Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?” – “Same procedure as every year, James!”
Well, for Rafa and his fans the clay season 2019 was anything but the same procedure as every year, and it’s a testament to Rafa’s great resilience and tennis intelligence that he managed to work a way out of his injury-induced funk and established a semblance of normalcy with his win over Novak in Rome. This success over his greatest rival carried him all the way to another RG final, where he managed to beat rather convincingly the current second-best clay courter and heir-apparent of his clay throne – if Thiem lasts long enough, that is😉
I said already in another comment that this 12th RG trophy is not overly important for cementing Rafa’s clay GOATness. This has already been established beyond any reasonable doubt many years ago. There will never be another one like him on the red dirt. But his 18th slam trophy could turn out to be one of the most important wins as far as his overall career and his legacy are concerned. Rafa is now within striking distance of Roger’s slam haul and it’s not totally inconceivable any longer that Rafa may equal Roger’s slam count eventually. The GOAT question is wide open. This year’s Wimby will provide some immediate answers. But it’s even more important that Rafa managed to re-establish a bit of distance between him and Novak again. IMO Novak has become now the far more dangerous GOAT rival for Rafa. Last year this was a highly unlikely scenario, but after having been in a prolonged slump Novak went on another slam rampage, starting with another Wimby trophy. I am not a Novak fan at all, but this deserves the highest admiration. He seemed to be out of the GOAT race last year. But if he really had managed to hoist another RG trophy on Sunday, thus completing a second Nole Slam, I wouldn’t have hesitated to declare right there and then that he is the current GOAT. In my book two Nole Slams, a double career slam and positive head-to-head against both of his main rivals as well as the highest number of ATP-1000 wins are more important than a slightly lower slam count. Therefore Nole lost far more than a semi-final two days ago. He lost the possibility to fight for the inofficial GOAT title on Sunday. This must’ve really hurt, because at his age I highly doubt that he will have the chance to complete another Nole Slam ever again. Even the double career slam may be further away now, since the young guns have definitely gained some ground on clay. Novak is not even the second-best clay courter anymore, and Rafa may well be the man to beat at RG for one or two more years – or as long as his body holds up. Since Novak missed the golden opportunity to achieve another Nole Slam and a double career slam, IMO he now needs to take the more arduous road and best Roger’s and Rafa’s slam counts in order to become the sole GOAT. And that might be difficult to achieve – at least as far as Fed’s twenty slam wins are concerned. Since he is a bit younger and has had less recurrent physical problems than Rafa, Novak has still a good chance, though, to catch up with Rafa’s slam count. Time will tell…
I think that the Djoker was well aware of the high stakes during his semi-final against Thiem, and that would explain his bad mood during and after the match. He even continued to criticize the RG management after yesterday’s final by implying that Thiem had been saddled with a great disadvantage against Rafa. I have a hunch Novak must’ve been furious that Rafa – after having gone into the clay season in a decidedly mediocre shape – nevertheless managed to defy the odds an grab another RG title.
Roger, Rafa and Novak have almost nothing left to prove. They’ve done it (almost) all. Most notably Rafa never managed to win a year-end title and Roger and Novak never won an Olympic Singles goldmedal. Therefore I suspect that their eventual place in the history of tennis is a strong motivating force at this stage in their respective careers. Of course none of them would admit this explicitly. Especially Rafa always denies those lofty ambitions. But there’s nothing wrong with it. When consummate competitors run out of goals and challenges, the motivation for the daily grind will inevitably flag, and competing isn’t fun anymore. Hunting goats is one of the few important challenges left for The Big Three. I can well imagine that the implications of Novak winning a second RG title weren’t lost on Rafa, and this may have helped to provide the necessary motivation to pull out of his physical and emotional slump and fight for yet another RG trophy. He needed this trophy in order to keep the GOAT race open – and he got it!
BTW, Rafa has won the most ATP titles 1000: 34 to date vs Novak’s 33! 😊
Honestly, I’d love to see the Big Three finish their careers with the same slam total.
Not sure I want to rule Roger out of winning Wimbly this year either. He looked pretty good during the clay season…and it is his worst surface. Currently the Big Servers, Isner, Anderson and Raonic are not In Form. Kyrgios? I’ll believe he can string seven excellent matches together when I see it. A Zverev? He’s been struggling with his serve all year. Cilic has not done well, nor has Coric. That kinda leaves the Big Three and dark horses.
Roger can never be ruled out of wimby…I think that’s his only chance of a slam. Apart from nole n rafa ,only person who can beat him there is tsitsipas n thiem or some freak guy who plays out of his skin on a day..
FFA plays well on the grass. Of course this morning was the first I’ve seen him and he was playing Gulbis. No problem handling Gulbis at all. I thought he especially and perhaps Shapo too would have good tennis for grass. The grass courts look beautiful right now – love it!
There may be more good on grass than I’m expecting – there are so many next gen possibilities – hard keep track.
NK should be great on grass but he’s playing the tall Italian Berrettini – big serve and forehand. Nick is showing very little interest in competing. Poor guy, and he walks around hunched over like an old grandpa. He does have back issues and of course his ever-present mental challenges.
FAA, sorry.
Nick lost! Shapo too, but Shapo losing to Struff who’s playing good tennis these days, whether it’s clay and now grass.
I’m eager to see how Tsitsipas fares on grass, after his devastating loss to Stan at the FO.
Yep, tough one for Shapo to get Struff first round in Stuttgart.
Sending poor Nick a get well soon card.
Raonic won. (Someone I had forgotten about) – he had to fight for it though vs Australian teenager Alexei Popyrin, whom I didn’t know till now.
Pretty good matches in Germany and Libema for both ATP and WTA. But it’s the second day wash out in Nottingham.
Indeed a heartbreaker for dear Stefanos at FO. At the same time I was happy to see Stan hitting opponents off the court and having the stamina to keep it up over a long match like that again.
Thiem should take some pages out of Stan’s handbook. Dom is still lacking in endurance for an RG Final. At his age he should recover better, imo. Interested to see Thiem on grass this year.
Thiem can cause damage at wimby..both thiem n tsitsipas can trouble the big 3 in qtrs
Tsitsi yes, Thiem doubtful
I feel what Thiem lacks is court craft and for him that may have to come with experience. He already has all the weapons, the hardware, what he needs to improve on is in the software.
Stan takes quite a while, until 28, to really mature into a more consistent, more self assured and physically very fit player with a well rounded game (he playing doubles with Fed has helped to improve his net approaches , volleying etc ).
I feel Thiem can be like Stan; he’s reaching his physical peak now and he’s getting better and better. His new coach Massu has really made some impact in his game – he’s now more willing to move to the net and getting very competent there, also I’m really impressed with his defence! Like I said during his matches, he’s becoming like a Djoko in his defence, incredible retrieving and never gave up on a point!
I think once he improves in his shot selection, knowing when to play what shot, and knows how to sustain his intensity when he’s with the winning momentum, he should be ready to win a slam and challenges for the top position. To me he’s better than Sasha and Tsitsipas from the young gen, and is now better than Kei and Demi, his peers of the same gen.
Ramara 👍 generous post appreciation @ 11:12 pm.
Thanks, that’s a real honor coming from the most generous poster here!
Ramara….Fed n rafa with same and Novak around 3 less. 20,20 and 17…yes that would be best and rafa getting his last 2 at wimby n ao,not another french . Nothing left to prove in French anymore..he even got the highest slam record there of 12.
Oh no, Sanju 😀 I think you underestimate Novak just a little. He is in this race whether he lets on or not.
I never underestimate nole. He has a winning record over the other 2 and except clay, he has won enough slams at the others – 7,4,3 at ao,wimby,uso. He won 4 in a row which other 2 have not. All I am saying is maybe when careers end, I hope fed n rafa retire with same number of slams a Novak a tad below at 17-18.
However I think after AO, he has not been his usual self. maybe he will be ripe at wimby. Can you tell him Elizabeth not to be though – I want one last wimby for rafa.
Fair enough, Sanju.
But 17? No. I refuse to think such a thing 😀
2 more for both him n rafa here on…Mot enough ?:-) it’s my desire not prediction…only god knows what they will end up with.
I agree Fed should not be ruled out of Wimby! In fact he is playing great at the moment and Wimby is not demanding on his body thus I consider Fed one of the favorites to win Winlmby! Novak can run into some inspired big hitter and lose, although he is definitely THE favorite to win it!
However, it’s been a long time since I felt this much excitement about Rafa’s prospects at Wimby! I actually expect him to do wonders at Wimby this year!
Vamos Champ!
I am expecting something big too. However I expected in 14 ,17,18 too..so not sure what to expect.
For Rafa to win Wimbledon:
1) a favourable draw, best without big hitters or big servers, or Brown;
2) no young guns like Shapo or Tsitsipas or even Kyrgios;
3) he has to play like AO this year ie with great serve plus FH and short point tennis;
4) fit and healthy;
5) best that Fed is seeded three and drawn in Djoko’s half of the draw;
6) fairer treatment where court allocation is concerned, to all the TOP guys and not just favourable to Fed only;
7) if Rafa reaches the SF, hope that he gets to finish the SF within the day and not have to play on two consecutive days, regardless of whether the roof is close or open.
Ha ha, just saying. Well, as long as he’s fit and healthy and serving and hitting well, he’ll have his chances I feel; just don’t start slow especially against some players who are playing well on grass and who come out all guns blazing having nothing to lose. Rafa should take things into his own hands, and not adopt a wait and see attitude especially in the early rounds against opponents he’s not familiar with.
It is scary that Rafa is getting better with age, and seems to conquer all – including injuries – just in time for the big one .. http://www.138mph.com/is-rafael-nadal-getting-better-with-age/
Rafa getting better just like Fed is too with age, I mean skill wise.
I think that’s because Rafa is playing more offensive than defensive tennis these days, cutting down the grinding. I like the way he displayed so much varieties and court craft during the FO final on Sunday; his ability to change things when existing game plan wasn’t working well for him. I thanks Moya for that, for getting Rafa to become more offensive.
I feel he’s just wasn’t ready at the AO to compete with Djoko in the final; could’ve been more competitive had he had enough match practices or warm ups before the AO. Perhaps with the winning momentum now from winning the FO, he may carry that over to the grass surface.
It’s true. Rafa having using his head, skills, and experience like never before. Not that he wasn’t great from the beginning. But Rafa is have the incredible thirties surge like we saw with Fed. Unbelievable at first but it really proving to be true. Never did I expect Fed to reach 20 GS in his old age. I do think he’s done though. LOL I remember being shocked when he won Wimbles in 2012 then shocked again and again. I’m a slow learner. Everyone was saying he was better than ever on another blog I was on and I was not buying it.
I accept it now – you just can’t count them out until they retire. They seem to go through stages and adjust quite well.
https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/video/locker-room-nadal-and-thiem-rg19
After the match
Thx for the video Nadline.
Nice that they’re sharing the locker-room so nonchalantly after the tension of the match. When all is said and done, this is just a sport, after all 🙂
I notice Rafa not having problem with his knees coming down the stairs high-fiving the ball kids, that’s a good sign. I remember sometimes he was limping down the stairs after his matches.
I’m glad that Rafa’s skipping the warm-up grass tournaments again this year. He’s better training at his own pace and playing a couple of exhos.
Currently Djokovic is the favorite for Wimbly, with Fed 2nd and Rafa 3rd. If I were a bettor I’d bet on one of the three to win, but I probably would not get good odds!
This is what Rafa hasto say about predictions:
What people think has no effect on how I play. I control how I play. Feelings and opinions don’t fit into the outcome.
If my thoughts and feeling did determine the outcome Rafa would never lose another match!
Me too, Ramara
If my feelings had any influence in Rafa’s he would hide under the table and never play tennis ever again
Shireling, we know. As Rafa says, opinions and picking favourites make no difference to the outcome. 😉
Yes, it’s amazing how strong he is and despite this he’s also had his melt-downs. We are all human after all
Another gem from Rafa:
“The only favourite that matters is the one who has the cup at home in two weeks’ time.”