Dominic Thiem reveals untold Rafael Nadal French Open story
Dominic Thiem reached the Roland Garros final twice in his career, but both times he had to go through Rafael Nadal. The Austrian made his first appearance in a major final at the 2018 French Open after getting past Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images Dominic Thiem reached the Roland Garros final twice in his career, but both times he had to go through Rafael Nadal. The Austrian made his first appearance in a major final at the 2018 French Open after getting past Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev. Nadal ended up taking that match with a straight-sets win (6–4, 6–3, 6–2), claiming his 11th French Open title.
The next year, they met again in the final. This time Thiem managed to take a set before falling 6–3, 5–7, 6–1, 6–1. Looking back on that second meeting while talking with Tennis Channel last year (quotes via Tennis-Infinity), Thiem shared something about what happened behind the scenes that day: Dominic Thiem talks through what happened before the 2019 Roland Garros final Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP via Getty Images Speaking on the ‘More Than A Name’ podcast, Thiem said: “First of all, 2019, the second French Open final, I was really convinced that I could beat Rafa in the finals because I played a great tournament.
“I beat Novak in the semis in an epic semis, and then I was really convinced that I could beat Rafa, and that was also my mindset throughout the hours before the finals. “But there’s quite a funny story, which I can tell now. I wouldn’t tell it as an active player, but now yes.
So, I think like four or five weeks before, I played Rafa in the semis of Barcelona. And I was beating him four and four. “I played really well, but not my best tennis, but I still beat him in two sets, which gave me a lot of confidence for the French Open.