Rafa Nadal will face his second challenge in the ATP Finals this Tuesday (15:00, #Vamos) from London, the masters tournament that is denied to round off his record. In front you will have Dominic Thiem, long proclaimed as the 'Little Prince' called to relieve him at Roland Garros, where he has already played the 2018 and 2019 finals … in which he was laminated by the Spanish.
Face to face, two renowned clay court players who, however, have been gaining more weight on the hard court, adapting to the needs of withdrawing with solvency, shortening exchanges and providing a plus of aggressiveness. That difficult “ability to change things when you are successful”, as Francis Roig says, the coach who has been accompanying Nadal for 15 years. The Nadal of the free points with the serve that did not yield a single break ball against Rublev in its premiere on Sunday at the ghostly O2 Arena, empty of public and even press.
The first Grand Slam title for the 27-year-old Austrian, who disputes the world number two with Nadal (725 points separate them), came this year on the cement of the US Open. Of his 17 titles, six have been achieved on hard court, where he presents an effectiveness of 60% … although still far from the 78% of the champion of 20 greats. “Today we have to forget about saying that someone is a specialist on gravel. Thiem comes from winning the US Open and being a finalist in Australia, and won the 2019 Indian Wells. We must leave the topics of specialists, because Dominic is already good on all surfaces “, Nadal warned after the fast track killer surgical exercise with which he finished Rublev in two sets (6-3 and 6-4).
“Sometimes I feel even better on hard. So the results say. Since 2019, my game adapts better to those tracks than to clay”, the Stakhanovist Wiener Neustadt warned before the tournament. Not in vain, last year, he reached the final in the O2 that he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom he defeated in his debut with the odd problem in his right knee.
“Thiem is improving every year, he is a great worker and I am very happy to see him win his first Grand Slam.. The game will be very difficult for me, but also for him. It is a great challenge and the victory against Rublev helps me face it “, summarized Rafa, who yesterday got a hard training, rhythm, which Thiem can print. The head to head favors him 9-5, but the last duel on the synthetic floor in Melbourne in January was for the world three. Two reconverted earthlings who dominate the springs of the dura. Aspiring masters at the Novak Djokovic indoor preserve.