Tennis: Matt Brown – No end in view of Rafael Nadal's domination

By Matt Brown in Paris

The domination of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros is not in sight.

The Spaniard's victory over Dominic Thiem was expected at the end of the five-set battle of Novak Djokovic, which lasted two days, leaving him physically compromised.

However, in the first two sets, Thiem is opposed to the scenario, leading Nadal into prolonged exchanges and producing tennis of the highest quality. It was an exhilarating thing, full of intensity.

But Nadal changed course in the third set, winning the first 11 points by attacking Thiem and forcing the Austrian to make mistakes. There were 35 prolonged extensions in the first two sets and only 11 in the third and fourth sets.

Nadal has already won 12 times the trophy of the Musketeers Cup in as many finals dating back to 2005. He suffered only two defeats here in 95 matches.

He has his birthday midway through the tournament and this year next year he will be 34 years old. If he is fit and healthy, Nadal will continue to win Roland Garros. He will go as a favorite every year until his retirement.

Nadal has more than two Grand Slam titles on Roger Federer's record 20 on the all-time list. He has good chances to transform the great Swiss, or at least to match him.

When people watch Nadal, they marvel at his raw strength, his athletic abilities, his incredible reaction to the ball, and the long exchanges he seems invariably to win.

But the reality is that Nadal's dominance on clay is not simply due to his ability to play at a constant level for five hours, reducing his opponents.

Statistics show the opposite at Roland Garros this year. It is the first shots.

Nadal earned more than 50% of his points in rallies of five or fewer shots, more than 20% of his free points with a mistake of return of the service and 35% of the points he won corresponded to durable exchanges. three shots or less.

This tells us that the ability to serve Spanish, which is often overlooked, is phenomenal.

It's a service that does not just start the point, but puts it in the back position to hit the third ball of the rally for a winner.

He performed this perfectly in the third and fourth series today.