Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time this spring when they meet again in the quarterfinals of the French Open on Tuesday.
Djokovic is sweeping the head-to-head series 5-0–including 11-1 in total sets–after destroying Thiem 6-1, 6-0 in the recent Rome semifinals. Dating back to their round-robin clash at the 2016 World Tour Finals, Djokovic has won their last four sets 6-0, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0. This stretch follows Thiem’s lone successful set, which he took 7-6(10) last fall at the O2 Arena in London before getting clobbered in the next two. This is also a rematch of last year’s Roland Garros semifinals, in which Djokovic dominated 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 on his way to lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the first time in his career.
The Serb’s 2016 success in Paris came as no surprise, because he dominated the entire first half of the season before a third-round Wimbledon loss to Sam Querrey touched off a prolonged slump that still may not be over. The 2017 campaign, on the other hand, has been a struggle. Djokovic is a relatively modest 24-6 with no titles since January 7 (Doha), and he followed up his Rome win over Thiem by losing to Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-3 in the final. So far this fortnight he has defeated Marcel Granollers, Joao Sousa, Diego Schwartzman, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, needing five sets to get past Schwartzman in addition to a trio of straight-set victories.
Thiem is an awesome 21-4 on the slow stuff this year, which is the biggest–and basically only–reason why he is No. 3 in the race to London. The seventh-ranked Austrian won Rio de Janeiro and reached finals in Barcelona and Madrid. He has been the most dominant player other than Nadal through four rounds, having blown out Bernard Tomic, Simone Bolelli, Steve Johnson, and Horacio Zeballos.
Speaking of Nadal, his lone clay-court loss came against Thiem in the Rome in quarterfinals. The Spaniard was physically spent by that point and the story was the same for Thiem when he took the court against Djokovic one day later, managing all of one game.
“It was a combination of everything,” the 23-year-old said of his recent loss to the world No. 2. “I played finals in Madrid before and then already in the first two matches of Rome I felt that somehow I’m getting more and more empty. Then against Rafa, I played with the last percents. It was amazing match, and the next day I was just done.”
“I don’t think it’s gonna play too big of a role,” Djokovic said of his perfect record against Thiem. “I think he really will step it up and try to do something special. I’m sure he’s going to be as motivated as ever, so I expect him to come out and really play his best. I’m going to be ready for that. I obviously played him last year semis here, played a really good match, (and) played an incredible match against him in Rome. But it’s different conditions. It’s best of five. It’s a Grand Slam.”
None of those last two factors help Thiem. The underdog’s talent level and current form are such that he is more than capable of winning this match, but his past struggles against Djokovic and relative inexperience–at least compared to his opponent–in the business end of slams could be his undoing.
Pick: Djokovic in 5
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Winning on serve tough for both players at the start
But,unfortunately he’s also made a lot of UE’s…BP come and go just like that!..
Thiem making tactocal errors again. I hope he can adjust
Thiem has the best forehand on clay after Rafa
what was that backhand from nole! not a difficult shot..
another backhand error by nole!! ridiculous…
thiem is outplaying nole right now…don’t understand some of nole’s shot choices…
Thiem overpowering Novak. Novak’s backhand continues to be vulnerable…esp when pushed wide. He is also not getting enough rotations on the ball to keep it in more often I think
are you here today mira?
sending you a hello message….
hope you’re well honey..
amy!!!…Oh God!I can’t you’re here again!!…I’m very very fine amy!!Much more so when you’re here!!Hehehe….Urgh!Sorry!Can’t come here sooner amy..we’re on fasting month and this time is very crucial to us…urgh!..i miss novak match as well!
Btw..how r u amy!..Urgh!Soooooo great to see u here amy!!Thank u for coming okay?
you’re in the middle of ramadan aren’t you mira?? don’t know how you manage all this fasting!! very hard…
lovely to see you mira dear…i am very upset that rafa didn’t get a real match today..that isn’t going to help him at all…
hey amy!…Yeah..we’re Muslims in the middle of Ramadhan…Haha..yeah..it’s hard but actually it’s good for our health as well…just imagine,our digestion system have to work very hard all year long without rest…so,for this month we can rest them from all those hard work that we’ve put them through…so,they’re can live longer like us amy…hehe…that’s my stomach story for today amy!!Hehehehe…
Btw…don’t be too upset bout Rafa k?…insyaallah he’ll be fine amy..imo,he don’t need the matches that much because he’s already full of it since he’s winning MC,Barca and Madrid…and got to QF in Rome..unlike his closest rival like Nole and andy who’s going out early in almost every tourney since AO…so,in my opinion Rafa at this stage will put his most desire and will to win,now that he’s only 2 steps away from the most glorious achievement in his career amy…
hahaha glad your busy stomach is getting a rest mira!! mine could do with the same as i am a chocaholic!
i always always worry about rafa’s next opponent in slams. always have and always will. i think i said before i am very superstitious so i would never say i think he is going to win.am a bit like rafa in always giving his opponent maximum respect….
have to go out in a minute mira so take good care of yourself hon….talk soon…
amy!…really really glad i can chat with u today!!Please come again amy!…Next time you’re here i will serve u a veryyyyyyyy delicious chocolate and coconut milk shake and after u taste it…urgh!believe me amy…u don’t wanna leave here ever again!….That’s of coz the biggest lie i’ve ever told u!!Hehehe…Going to miss u very very much amy!!!
When did Nole last lose in straights!!
i;ve been rooting for thiem because i see him as a lesser threat to rafa. beginning to wonder if that is true right now. i am a bit nervous for the semis..
same here! Hope thiem comes down like he did in Rome in the next round
that’s a fair point because thiem has never taken down 2 top players in a row has he?? what worries me most isn’t really thiem but that rafa hardly had any match play today and had a 3 day gap from the match before. how will that affect his game?
I think this version of Thiem will beat Rafa; he’s just bringing too much power. Whether he can replicate it in the next match (assuming he wins this one, of course) is another question.
disagree with that. rafa’s game can handle thiem if his game is on. but he will hardly have played over several days.
rafa is also a great wind player, nole is poor in the wind and it really shows today.
It looks like we’re going to find out: up two sets and two breaks. Hard to count Novak out, but it would take a massive collapse for Thiem to lose this one now.
No, Rafa will push Thiem back far better than Nole. That’s the problem with Nole’s game sometimes, when he is not at 100%, he can get pushed back easier. same happened with Stan in 2015.
Theim CAN beat Rafa but if Rafa comes out playing aggressive the he has been, it will be enough to stop Thiem.
I agree with you VR. Djoko is definitely not playing as well as he had played in 2015 or 2016 and Thiem is playing very well so Thiem is able to push Djoko back behind the baseline and then overpowers him.
Rafa will not play like Djoko did, he’ll try to control the court by moving forward and forcing Thiem back. Believe it or not, Rafa can serve better than Djoko now, and will wins many points on his serves.
The problem for Rafa is Thiem’s big serves, but if Rafa, by staying further from the baseline to return serves, could get to read Thiem’s serves as the match progresses, then he may be able to handle at least some of those serves and not giving Thiem too many cheap points.
Thiem has won some good points playing his one two punch tennis using his BHDTL! That BHDTL was such a beauty but I hope he won’t have much success vs Rafa in the SF!
Thiem just outplaying Novak so far to go up 2-0 sets; not what I expected. Very reminiscent of the 2015 final, though not quite as high in quality, especially on Novak’s side. But more proof, it seems, that big hitting allied to consistency cannot be beaten, even on clay.
Regarding Nole’s play, what really stands out for me is how he doesn’t have his CC backhand, at least not with the extreme angle he was playing it a year ago. Part of that is Thiem’s power and depth keeping him pushed back.
One shot really missing
he’s playing in the middle of the court because he doesn’t like the wind. but that gives thiem the advantage with his power game…
but djokos errorfest has made himlookbetter
wow thiem has touch as well…
Yeah, those who think he’s just a ball-basher are wrong. he’s hit a few lovely drop shots in this match.
horrible forehand miss to get broken by nole. he’s going down.
Djoko not even swearing, not getting angry. As if he is not interested. About to go double break down.
we can put that down to pepe’s wonderful influence!! you have to be very strong in your masculinity to wear powder pink…
vmk1, this is what I was saying pre-french open. Let’s wait for him to run into some serious opposition to find out how he holds up mentally and how confident he feels. He is clearly struggling and obviously lacks confidence.
Wow, djoko getting straight-setted.
SO Thiem vs Rafa!
so what should rafa’s tactics be against thiem??
Rafa has tactics against Thiem, don’t worry.
It will be a very tough match though given how much power and consistency Thiem has.
Rafa will beat him in 4 tough sets I think. I am not happy about today’s result though! Rafa could come out under-cooked.
have said that lots of times today vr!! remember how nole suffered in 2011 rg when he got very little match play before the match with fed? that is what makes me nervous…
What do you think Rafa’s tactics will be, VR? As I see it, his best chance (assuming Thiem plays near this level) is to play ultra-aggressively. Even then, I don’t think it would be enough.
However, I am not at all confident that Thiem will be able to bring this level again in the next match.
Come on Joe, Thiem had to fight tooth and nail to win the first set, and Djoko wasn’t even at his best. You’re here telling us Thiem playing the way he plays and others (Rafa in this case) won’t be enough to beat him?
I bet if the match goes on longer, Thiem won’t be able to hit that hard for the whole match; and I don’t think Rafa couldn’t win a set to extend Thiem and exposes his weaknesses once his level comes down. The rest will be up to Rafa (and Thiem) to fight it out.
If Thiem doesn’t bring that level, it will be because Rafa won’t allow it.
Just like when Fed played so many rounds in the past looking amazing until he was outmatched.
#Nolesurelyisnotback
nole has just completely lost it….quite sad really…
Djoko in a mess now, can’t imagine how many shots he misses. Thiem OTOH is playing very well, esp that BHDTL. Maybe Thiem is going to beat Djoko for the first time, looking very likely now. Thiem is just overpowering Djoko and Djoko simply has no answer. Djoko may even get a bagel!
The scoreline seems so similar to the rout that djoko inflicted on rafa in 2015
nole in same place mentally as rafa was then….
5-0! Bagel? Damn!