‘Rafa,’ Dominic Thiem reveals whom he wants to be for a day

‘Rafa,’ Dominic Thiem reveals whom he wants to be for a day

Thiem, Djokovic, Nadal, Federer

Tennis has always been a global sport. But the manner in which just 3 players have dominated the sport for about 2 decades just seems unreal. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic– ‘The Big 3’ will go down in the history books as the men who popularized and dominated the sport.

Rafael Nadal

Talking about Rafael Nadal, the man has won 20 grand slam titles till date and is the favorite to win his 21st in Paris this year. The ‘king of clay’ has won a whopping 13 titles at ‘Court Philippe Chatrier‘.

But standing in his way is probably the second best clay court player on tour currently- Dominic Thiem. The Austrian has been the man to beat other than the Big 3 since the past couple of years. He won his maiden grand slam last year, the US Open, defeating Sascha Zverev in the final.

FS Video

Although he won his first major on hards, Thiem’s preferable surface is clay. He has set himself the career goal of winning the French Open and the Austrian says he would love to dethrone love to dethrone the ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal in the process.

Dominic Thiem wants to be ‘Rafa’ for a day

YouTube video

Ahead of the Dubai Tennis Championships, in an interview Thiem said that he would want to be Rafa for a day.

The interviewer asked him- “One player you would like to be for one day?”
Without a second thought, he replied: “Rafa”.

Nadal’s dominance on the red claycourts in Paris is unmatched, the Spaniard picking up his 13th French Open trophy last year to match Roger Federer’s 20 grand slam titles.

Thiem and Nadal

Two of those 13 victories on centre court have come against Austrian Thiem. The US Open champion reached the final in Paris in 2018 and 2019. He was also the semi-finalist in 2016 and 2017.

Thiem has a perfect game for clay. His top-spin is very close to that of Nadal’s and his defensive style suits the red clay. He is by far the only player apart from Rafa who could slide well on clay.

This season, Thiem hasn’t been in good form. He bowed out of the 4th round of the Australian Open and lost in the quarter-finals in Doha. Surprisingly, he lost in the first round of the Dubai Open too. In order to prepare for the clay season, he withdrew his name from the Miami Open.

As for Roland Garros 2021, only time will tell whether Rafa Nadal will lift his 14th French title or Thiem manages to dethrone Nadal.

Also read: Tennis legend backs Alexander Zverev over his stand on the New Rankings System