Can Dominic Thiem trouble the great Rafael Nadal? Mark Petchey gives his French Open verdict
"The one thing about Thiem is that he doesn't shirk the challenge"
Friday 9 June 2017 19:15, UK
Rafael Nadal will be trying to become the second man in the professional era to make 10 appearances in the final at one Grand Slam but has Austria's Dominic Thiem standing in his way.
Thiem entered Roland Garros with some success after reaching two finals in Barcelona and Madrid before handing Nadal his one and only defeat on the red dirt at the quarter-final stage in Rome last month.
The 23-year-old is coming off a straight-set upset of defending champion Novak Djokovic and is playing scintillating tennis.
But he will be wary of Nadal's ferocious top-spin forehands having struggled with the defensive side of his game during their last few encounters.
The Spaniard is in ominous form having dropped just 22 games in five matches, his lowest total on the way to the semi-finals at any major.
"I think he can trouble Nadal . He found a little solution in Rome in terms of his return position," said Sky Sports' tennis analyst, Petchey.
It will come down to whether he [Thiem] can execute his game plan as efficiently as he did in Rome
"I think tactically he was very smart in terms of his return placement to find Rafa's backhand, which allows him to probably get the first big hit in the rally rather than Nadal hitting the ball with his forehand first and therefore being on the back foot and also returning from too deep, and then not being able to shift up onto the baseline where he can be very dangerous.
"Thiem got caught too deep in Madrid and was unable to hurt Nadal from back there so I think he really did find a way to play the Spaniard, but to execute it in a best of five encounter is still a remarkably difficult thing that he's going to have to achieve.
"The one thing about Thiem is that he doesn't shirk the challenge. He loves the physical endurance of a long tennis match and he'll stay with Nadal from that point of view.
"It will come down to whether he can execute his game plan as efficiently as he did in Rome."
How has Rafael Nadal returned to his best ahead of the French Open?
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