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Rafael Nadal is at Roland Garros titles that the water is to be wet. Former world No. 1 Jim Courier, champion in 1991 and 1992, said fourth seed Dominic Thiem will have to produce a special Sunday performance to beat Rafael Nadal to eleven titles and win the World Cup. Musketeers.
"He will have to play a game almost without fail, because the next time you see Nadal play a bad game at Roland Garros, it will be the first time," Courier told ATPTour.com.
Nadal is an incredible 117-2 in first leg of the best of five matches on clay, and 92-2 at Roland Garros. It is therefore up to Thiem that it is incumbent to find solutions to Nadal's questions on clay, instead of the Spanish having to do something other than what he has won. since his first title at this event in 2005.
"Unless Dominic does something out of his habit, which would have the effect of hitting Nadal's forehand in the forehand, it's just [Rafa] to play in his habits and force Dominic to do something that is uncomfortable for him, "said Courier. "If Nadal plays his normal motives on clay, the best of five, he is proven to be practically unbeatable. And it will hold tomorrow if Thiem does not do something extraordinary. "
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Nadal, however, lost twice at Roland Garros and Thiem beat the Spaniard once in the past four years on clay. It is therefore the case that the Austrian brings to the Philippe Chatrier court what he has learned from his victories against a man who dominated him. Courier shows how the world number 1, Novak Djokovic, has played against Nadal in the past, notably during a two-set victory against the southpaw at Roland Garros in 2015.
"Thiem will have to remove Rafa's motives, so he'll have to reproduce what Novak is doing so well against Rafa and stand in the backhand corner, take the ball early, make a deep pbad to move Nadal from the center of the court then attack with the forehand from there, "said Courier. "It's his best chance in the rallies to do damage. Novak really wrote the game book on how to play Rafa if you have some skill to take in hand. "
Summary of previous matches of Thiem & Nadal (Barcelona 2019)
Thiem is well known for the onslaught of heavy backlash that he sends to his opponents from the baseline. While Djokovic neutralizes Nadal's forehand with his two-handed backhand, Thiem uses a one-handed backhand. He will have to stay on the bottom line or inside the field with this shot, just like Federer during his recent run of five wins over Nadal before falling to the Spanish in the semifinal here.
"He will not be able to run a ton of those shots with his forehand if the exchanges begin under Rafa's control. But we saw Roger Federer from 2017 taking his revenge and taking his one-handed backhand play, also using Novak's models with great success against Rafa on hard ground, "said Courier. "He was trying to do the same thing yesterday during their match in this windstorm, but it was very difficult to get free kicks from the ball."
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Although Thiem fought against Nadal at Roland Garros, losing his previous three games of this tournament without getting close to 6-4 in a set, the Austrian beat the world No. 2 at four separate clay tournaments. 2016 Buenos Aires.
"It's important, the fact that he beat Rafa on clay, the fact that he beat him this year in Barcelona, a very important tournament for Rafa. This should certainly, and I imagine, give him the confidence to believe that he could face Nadal, "Courier said. "We'll see if that's enough to beat him to the top five. Many beat Rafa to the best of three goals on clay, but few made it to the best of five. But he has the ability to do it. He knows it from a two out of three point of view. If you could win two sets, you might be able to convince yourself that you can win three. "
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At the US Open last year, Thiem pushed Nadal to the brink. The Spaniard needed four hours and 49 minutes to defeat the mighty Austrian, after 2 am, in a tiebreaker in the final. And Thiem also showed his fitness against the world No. 1 on Saturday when he survived Djokovic in five sets for two days.
"I think the experience of having played at Rafa last year [in the Roland Garros final] will help more than anything that has happened today. I think it was certainly important for him to win. But for these players, the conditions in which they evolved yesterday and today were, in some respects, a matter of survival. It was less tennis, "Courier said. "Tomorrow, if the wind is a little weaker, as forecast, it focuses more on the X and Bones and runs under pressure repeatedly against the constant pressure of Nadal. So maybe the experience that he had last year, where he played too much and played too much, will help him to play a game a little more controlled and aggressive, if you want. "
It's no secret that Thiem is able to play sensational tennis. But it will be a question of making the most of all his previous successes against Nadal and of doing his best to apply them Sunday in what has always proved to be one of the most difficult tasks of the sport: to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros.
"You can get confidence in anything if you can convince yourself to do it or if your team does," Courier said. "It all depends on Dominic's point of view on the things he wants to use to solve Rafa's problems in a match where, statistically, his probability of winning is very low."
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