Arguably the toughest tennis in tennis–going up against Rafael Nadal on clay–may have been exactly the wakeup call Dominic Thiem needed in order to get himself in gear this season.
Thiem had been a solid 22-6 even before arriving at the Mutua Madrid Open, but he suffered upset losses at big events to Tennys Sandgren (Australian Open), Fernando Verdasco (Rio de Janeiro), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Barcelona). The seventh-ranked Austrian just barely managed to avoided upsets at the hands of Federico Delbonis and Borna Coric earlier this week, and with another lease on life he has soared to new heights. Thiem stunned Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-3 on Friday and then erased Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals.
Up next for the 24-year-old is Sunday’s final against Alexander Zverev, who trails the head-to-head series 4-1. Thiem won all three of their previous clay-court encounters in the the spring of 2016–in Munich, Nice, and at the French Open. Zverev’s lone victory came later that season on the hard courts of Beijing, while Thiem added another win to his total against the German via a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision indoors in Rotterdam last year. None of their previous showdowns has ended in straight sets.
Straight-set affairs are exactly what Zverev has enjoyed so far in Madrid. In fact, nobody has even pushed him to a single tiebreaker. The No. 2 seed booked his spot in his fourth career Masters 1000 finals with routine defeats of Evgeny Donskoy, Leonardo Mayer, John Isner, and Denis Shapovalov. Zverev, the 2017 Rome and Montreal champion, finished runner-up to Isner in Miami as part of his current 25-7 record this season.
“I’ve been in this moment before,” the 21-year-old noted. “I’m just happy to be in the final and play for another Masters title.”
Thiem finds himself in a second straight Madrid final, and this time Nadal is no longer standing in his way. Zverev is no slouch on this surface, but he also isn’t Nadal. And Thiem’s recent stunner against the Spaniard appears to have catapulted him to a new level–or, to put it more accurately, back to his old level. Madrid’s fifth seed had been a hopeless 0-6 lifetime in the head-to-head series with Anderson before trouncing the South African on Saturday.
“It gave me a huge boost of confidence,” Thiem said of his victory over Nadal. “That’s for sure.”
Pick: Thiem in 3
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WYG?
Yep Thiem in three is the pick for me.
“The seventh-ranked Australian…”
We’ll take him!
Anderson was the smart pick to win a set or at the very least test Thiem given the tournament results. The guy plays like Jekyll and Hyde. He needs to stop the drugs, gain some weight, and play with confidence behind a consistent serve.
Austrian.
I guess I’ll take Thiem because I had Zverev picked both against Nishikori and Isner in Miami. I’m still a fan of Zverev because he is so young playing so well. But I wrote off Thiem a long time ago ever since his meltdown against Del Potro who had the freaking flu. Who knows maybe he found his balls and wants to win for Mladenovic in his corner.
Interesting final, I have to disagree with Ricky. I may be proven wrong.
Zverev, looks too solid in my view. Strong all round game, mentally tough. In my view mentally he looks tougher than Thiem and less likely to choke.
If past matches are anything to go by 3 sets seems very likely. However, having watched Zverev yesterday. I thought he played at a very high level, I am tempted with 2-0 zverev, but that does go against stats etc.
So I will stick with a confident shout on zverev
I completely agree with you. I believe just like you, that the mental toughness of Zverev, and him being all over rock solid, will in the end crack the nut (Thiem) Thiem will have to make too many winners to play Zverev off the court, while I am much more confident that Zverev will be able to keep the ball going till Thiem makes the unforced error.
+1
I’m going with Thiem for his maiden clay Masters title,he’s been deserving it for a while now! Yesterday we could see that Shapo has so much to learn,he goes blazzing out guns,assuming a very risky strategy,hit or miss. I could see that he was trying to take the ball on the return so early and way over his shoulder height sometimes and he was missing a lot of returns obviously,instead of slicing the ball and engage in the rallies.
Like it or not,Zverev is here to stay. He’s looking very solid off the ground and moving so well for his height,I would be shocked if he’s not able to reach the second week of a Slam this year. He’s a stablished top 5 player now and I see ＃1 material on him and he’s definitely getting there in the future and winning Slams for sure. I’m expecting him to improve his forehand,and most of all his net game.Then,he will be a very complete all rounder player.
Yep, Shapo is a hit or miss player. I know many are crazily excited over him, for he’s an explosive player not unlike a young Rafa.
I like to compare him with young Rafa, because young Rafa was equally explosive if not more explosive. Rafa was offensive when he’s younger, full of energy and bouncing around; there’s just so much similarities between the two, both are lefties too. However the similarities stopped there – Rafa was a more intelligent player imo, even when young, knowing when to play offence and when the defence.
Shapo just goes for broke, he’s explosive no doubt but that’s because he’s still young; I can’t imagine him being explosive the whole career even when he gets older, so his coach has to teach him how not to go for broke all the time but learns when to be offensive and when not to. His defence imo is poor, for he only knows one way of playing, ie all out attack.
A Zverev and Tsitsipas are better prospects imo as they have the balance between defence and offence about right. I think the three of them will form their own rivalries among themselves, not unlike Fed, Rafa and Djoko.
To me Shapo is more like Fed game wise (except Fed didn’t go for broke when he’s young) but has the demeanour of Rafa; Tsitsipas is more like Rafa in that he’s good on clay and has the patience suitable for clay but his demeanour is more like Fed, ie he’s more quiet and calm.
So, the trio of Shapo, Tsitsipas and Sasha may be the Fed, Rafa and Djoko of the future though I don’t think they can surpass the older trio, highly unlikely.
I agree,Shapo has no transition between defense-offense but he has time on his side and he’ll develop a good defense game I believe.Tsitsipas in fact has played very well on clay this season and he has the game to be a top player in the future.
If someone younger doesn’t step up in the next 2-3 years maybe they’ll be set to dominate the sport,no doubt. Regarding level of play,I don’t they can be close to Fedalovic. I mean,when at their peak it seemed like they almost couldn’t miss a ball,they could be all day playing and with practically no misses,that’s how good they were.
I don’t see these young guys reaching that level.
I’ll give Thiem the edge in 3 sets because he plays well in Madrid and is a good clay courter. He may be nervous though, trying to win his first MC.
If Thiem plays like he did vs Rafa, then there’s no doubt who’s the winner.
With the way Nadal was playing in that match, Zverev would have swooped him in two most likely aswell.
I do my own predictions before looking ar Ricky’s and here I have the same:Thiem in 3! However I like Zverev better and would love him wining the title here!
I agree with NyD: the way Rafa played vs Thiem, he certainly did make an easy target! Zverev would have won just as well!
Elsewhere in Rome, Tsitsipas wins his qualifying match to enter the main draw, so happy for him. But, looking at where the qualifiers will be placed, I doubt he can go far in Rome – either R2 vs Djoko/Isner/Sasha or R1 vs Diego/Edmund/Coric – I’ll be surprised if he can get past R2.
Zverez in 2
Thiem is just not moving his feet. He is playing so poor. I have not seen him ripping his BH even once today in first 7 games.
Zverev’s defense is deceptively good. He has a very wide wingspan and covers the court extremely well.
I think it’s Thiem’s week…in straight.
Thiem hitting BH to Sasha’s BH is asking for troubles. He should hit more DTL shots from that wing. Thiem trying to do too much, overhitting so often.
Thiem losing first game of each set is just like what Anderson did in the SF! It’s crazy that Thiem just stands so far back to hit his shots, never try moving inside the court to take the ball early. He’s clueless how to return Sasha’s big serves.
Zverev to win the French. You heard it here.
When?
10th June 2018
Fat hope!
But, I give Sasha better chances in winning Wimbledon this year, given that he did reach final at Halle and will do one better this year most likely.
I like Zverev but just – no!
Which edition, Joe?
After Monte Carlo he’s just got better and better. Hasnt dropped a set in 8 matches.
Zverev has yet to do anything at a slam. Rafa is not going anywhere.
I really like him and think he is for real. He will win slams, just not now.
Er.. he will soon at Rome. You’ve forgotten somebody went 21 matches without dropping a set, winning 50 sets in a row.
lucky,
Thank you!
Vamos Rafa!
😀
He’s come of age since the AO. Unlucky to run into a hot Isner that was unbeatable with that serve. otherwise 2 Masters titles and 3 ATP.
That has got nothing to do with clay. The Madrid clay surface flatters the big servers, making them look better than they really are on clay – Shapo is one good example.
What 3 ATP???
Miami – Munch – Madrid
I believe that Zverev has not gone past the fourth round at any slam. Fitness has been an issue with him. Winning best of three matches is not an indicator of winning a slam. Zverev won Masters titles last year but could not make a dent at the slams.
Theim has at least gotten to the semis st RG the last two years.