“Well Deserved Domi,” Rafael Nadal congratulates Dominic Thiem for having an incredible year


“Well Deserved Domi,” Rafael Nadal congratulates Dominic Thiem for having an incredible year

Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem had an incredible year on tour that saw him come out of the shadows of the Big Three and finally lift his maiden Grandslam title. The Austrian has been knocking on the doors of the Big Three players- Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic since a long time, and has been one of the most consistent players on tours in the past three years. Amidst the global pandemic, 2020 was the year when Thiem broke open the door and has now emerged as a top contender, moving forward into the 2021 season.

The Austrian won the US Open title after defeating Alexander Zverev in a five-set thriller that went all the way down to the wire. It was his first Grandslam title which he won after three unsuccessful attempts in the finals of a Grandslam. Earlier this year, Thiem lost to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Australian Open in another five-set thriller. In 2018 and 2019, he lost to Rafael Nadal in the French Open finals.

A few days earlier, Dominic Thiem received his US Open trophy at his home and posted a picture of him with the title on Instagram. His caption read, “welcome home,” with an emoji of a trophy. Rafael Nadal posted a congratulatory message for Dominic Thiem in the comments section which read, “Congrats again and well deserved Domi!”

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“Muchas Gracias,” Thiem thanks Rafael Nadal for his congratulatory message

Rafael Nadal and Thiem’s exchange on Instagram (Credits: @domithiem, Instagram)

Dominic Thiem, who received a congratulatory message from Rafael Nadal, thanked the Spaniard for his kind words. He wrote, “Muchas Gracias,” which means ‘thank you’ in English in response to Nadal’s message. The Austrian would certainly be overwhelmed with Nadal’s gesture. When a 20 time Grandslam champion congratulates you on your maiden Grandslam title, it doubles your joy.

Thiem and Nadal have faced off twice this year on tour, both of which were won by the Austrian. They first met at the Australian Open in the quarterfinals, where Thiem prevailed in four sets, winning three tiebreakers. They squared off again at the Nitto ATP Finals in the round-robin stage where the Austrian defeated Nadal in straight sets, winning both the sets via tiebreakers.

Also Read: Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem topple Rafael Nadal in the ATP On- Court earnings list for 2020