It may be the “other” semifinal on Friday, but no one should be surprised if Novak Djokovic vs. Dominic Thiem turns out to be the better of the two matches–in terms of both quality and competitiveness.
Neither one of their first two French Open matches lived up to the hype, but it was not only Djokovic who engineered a beatdown. After the Serb cruised 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in the 2016 semifinals, Thiem returned the favor one year later by dominating 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-0 in the quarters.
Overall, Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 6-2–including 3-2 on clay. They just faced each other last month in Madrid, where the world No. 1 prevailed 7-6(2), 7-6(4) on his eventual way to the title. Thiem’s other victory came at the 2018 Monte-Carlo Masters via a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 decision.
Although Thiem looked vulnerable earlier this fortnight, he is now looking like a future (and maybe even present, come Sunday afternoon) champion at Roland Garros that many in the tennis world tip him to become. After scraping past Tommy Paul, Alexander Bublik, and Pablo Cuevas all in four tough sets, the fourth-ranked Austrian destroyed both Gael Monfils and Karen Khachanov without losing more than four games in any set.
“I think every match [I’ve gotten] better and better,” Thiem assessed. “(The) first two opponents were very tough because they also didn’t give (me) any rhythm and they didn’t have anything to lose. So these were two very tough matches. From the third round on, it got a lot better.”
Djokovic is perfect through five rounds, having made routine work of Hubert Hurkacz, Henri Laaksonen, Salvatore Caruso, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Alexander Zverev. The top seed and 2016 French Open winner is 13-1 in his last 14 clay-court matches, with a loss only to Rafael Nadal in the Rome final.
Thus the stage is set for a blockbuster semifinal lineup, which also includes Nadal vs. Roger Federer. Thiem may be the outsider among the four in terms of major title-winning experience, but it’s obvious from both past French Open success and current form that he is the only other player who truly belongs on semifinal Friday.
“Dominic is deservedly where he is–one of the top four guys, especially on clay,” Djokovic explained. “That’s where he’s playing his best tennis. He’s got that tremendous power in his game, especially with forehand and serve. I think (his) backhand also has improved a lot in the last couple of years.
“(It) seems like his relationship with (new coach Nicolas) Massu has helped him a lot…also mentally, I think, in big matches; seems like it has been working really well. If he continues playing this way, not just on clay but in general, I think we will probably be seeing him more often on different surfaces in the final stages of the tournament.”
Will we see Thiem in the final? We did last year, and he has been no less impressive on the slow stuff in 2019. His recent exploits are highlighted by a title in Barcelona, where he defeated Nadal 6-4, 6-4 in the semis.
Beating Djokovic at Roland Garros may be even more difficult, but it is a feat Thiem has already accomplished once. And as well as the 15-time slam winner is playing right now, he still does not appear to be at his Australian Open best.
Pick: Thiem in 5
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Thiem’s BH slice is a horror, yet he’s still hitting it as usual!
As a Rafa fan, you would rather want Novak to win. He will be easier to beat than Thiem.
But, Rafa and Thiem are the best clay clutters and it’s fitting they should play the finals to decide the champion.
Easier? Djoko can grind all day long and he’s way more experienced than Thiem is. I’m not sure he’s easier to beat.
Yes he can grind. But his clay game has a lot of limitations. Slow conditions on Sunday…no chance Djoker hits through Rafa. Thiem’s dangerous if he catches fire.
With all that said, Rafa is winning this easily, Regardless of the opponent.
Well Id like to really think so
Thiem playing such stupid tennis doesn’t deserve to win, Djoko for the win now, at least he uses his brain more to problem solve on court, can’t say the same for Thiem!
If Theim wins i’d be very surprised. He’s giving Djoker troubles but he’s wasting a whole lot of opportunities!!! Never saw him being able to beat Novak here, and He won’t be able to beat Rafa either!!!
Exactly Monalisa; Thiem is not taking full advantage of this subpar Djoko. If he loses, he’s going to regret it, a missed chance to beat a world no.1 at a slam!
Novak can’t beat Rafa here either.
Monalisa, I agree. If Thiem didn’t waste so many chances, he’d have won in 4 sets.
He already destroyed Novak once here
How many times has Novak come to the net and been passed! He leaves the whole court open!
Whow, Djoko is 23/50 at the net! I mean he approached the net 50 times? Really? That’s impressive, he’s making full use of the court knowing how well Thiem could play from the baseline.
Thiem now leading 5-4 in set four, hopes he hangs tough to win in the end.
Thiem has made 45 UEs and Djokovic 33.
Theim has Djokovics measure on this court.
Nadal has Theims measure up until now. Sunday we will see if that is still currently the case.
It’s much less windy than yesterday yet the tennis is way inferior to that played by fedal!
First 2 sets of Fedal, yes
Nole beaten at the net again!
Theim just beat himself.
So to five sets we go! Best possible scenario for Rafa. 🙂 (ok, I’m shameless, I’ll take any advantage.)
Djoko break serve again and now serving for set four! See how terrible Thiem is, can’t break Djoko’s serve to win and then loses his own serve!
Yeah I agree, that the quality of this match is much poorer than Fedal’s match.
Djokovic isn’t grinding as well as he use to. It’s his bread and butter that he always eventually goes back to but he expects to win the points a bit too quickly in the clay these days.
Theim in 5 eh. Let’s see if Ricky’s prediction is on the money.
Ha! Don’t feel it! It would be a wonder!
🙏🏼
See how that horrible BH slice from Thiem helps Djoko to win the set? Thiem looks so limited out there when facing Djoko, running out of ideas and relying heavily on his BH slices that fail him time and again. He’s really not too bright up there, doesn’t know how to change up when things are not working for him.
It’s very noticeable that over the 2 days fed, Novak and Dom have all really struggled to hold serve serving into the wind. Obviously the problem was worse yesterday as it was so much windier. But rafa held serve into the wind way way more often ! Just an observation!
Brain fart at the end from Thiem. Still backing him to take this in 5
Crazy shot selection by Djokovic. He’s not comfortable.
He’s just not happy to grind.
That slice by Theim when Djokovic is moving forward is a great shot.
Ha ha, Thiem’s BH DTL slice is better than his CC ones. Beautiful.
How many times has he run to the net and got passed!
LOTS