2019 Roland Garros Men's Final: Rafael Nadal vs. Dominic Thiem

[the AntiPusher]

Roddicks serve is definitely better than Roger's. I think his hold % was just as good despite a much inferior all around game.

Darth, Roger is one of the greatest servers to a certain point on the court in the history of the game. Andy's serve was very predictable and was so block back into the court..ask Front

 

[MikeOne]

Cali is right on this. Roger at his age should be prioritizing Wimbledon, not wasting time on a surface where he has no prayer to do well on. Who cares about a semifinal result, the guy is worth hundreds of millions so he doesn't need the money. Instead he wasted a lot of energy and embarrassed himself as soon as he faced a contender on clay.

who are you to get into Roger's mind and control him? Roger had great experiences at Roland and hadn't played in many years, unlike you, he isn't a coward and probably wanted to play at Roland for old time's sake... remind himself of the special experiences. The matches weren't particularly taxing for him and i think he probably enjoyed the experience to play RG again and he made semis.... losing to nadal is nothing to be ashamed of. Who are you to tell Roger at 37 what his priorities are? He probably planning to retire soon and wanted to experience RG... he knows what he is doing... you only hate Nadal and Djoker so much that what you care about is Roger extending that slam count lead over the players you hate.... Maybe this isn't Roger's priority so who are you call it a mistake? based on your priorities and worries? ha

 

[Front242]

0 to do with his schedule, it was Nadal's brutal rallies and intensity... he was mentally down, not physically.... Nadal does that to you. Remember when Nadal crushed Tsitsipas at AO and made Tsitsi look physically and mentally wasted? Tsitsi wasn't tired... Nadal got to him...

Thiem was 100% fine physically, he even said he was fresher than last year... it was Nadal's style of defense/offsense that got to Thiem, mentally. The brutality of those long rallies in first set, Thiem having to hit 2-3 extra shots and at the same time Nadal using offense to move Thiem to every corner of the court... It is a challenge, for even a Thiem with 4 days of rest.

There's no way in hell he was only winning 2 games in the last 2 sets if fully rested. That's a ridiculous notion. He was missing routine shots and dropping serve as often as Ron Jeremy drops his pants.

 

[Bonaca]

0 to do with his schedule, it was Nadal's brutal rallies and intensity... he was mentally down, not physically.... Nadal does that to you. Remember when Nadal crushed Tsitsipas at AO and made Tsitsi look physically and mentally wasted? Tsitsi wasn't tired... Nadal got to him...

Thiem was 100% fine physically, he even said he was fresher than last year... it was Nadal's style of defense/offsense that got to Thiem, mentally. The brutality of those long rallies in first set, Thiem having to hit 2-3 extra shots and at the same time Nadal using offense to move Thiem to every corner of the court... It is a challenge, for even a Thiem with 4 days of rest.

Agree. You remember what Nadal did in the final of AO after he puts Stefanos easily away? No one except Novak has a real change.

 

[the AntiPusher]

who are you to get into Roger's mind and control him? Roger had great experiences at Roland and hadn't played in many years, unlike you, he isn't a coward and probably wanted to play at Roland for old time's sake... remind himself of the special experiences. The matches weren't particularly taxing for him and i think he probably enjoyed the experience to play RG again and he made semis.... losing to nadal is nothing to be ashamed of. Who are you to tell Roger at 37 what his priorities are? He probably planning to retire soon and wanted to experience RG... he knows what he is doing... you only hate Nadal and Djoker so much that what you care about is Roger extending that slam count lead over the players you hate.... Maybe this isn't Roger's priority so who are you call it a mistake? based on your priorities and worries? ha

Amen

 

[MikeOne]

I am not saying Thiem would have won otherwise. Surely eating Breadstick in the last two sets clearly indicate he was running out of fuel.
Come on, Thiem is not that bad.

re-watch that first set... that was brutal.. i mean, brutal! even a super fresh Thiem would've been affected by that..

Nadal has won 12 RG for a reason, remember Stan's annihilation in 2017? You have to do something special to beat him...

 

[Bonaca]

There's no way in hell he was only winning 2 games in the last 2 sets if fully rested. That's a ridiculous notion. He was missing routine shots and dropping serve as often as Ron Jeremy drops his pants.

It’s not about the two games, he would never win against bull even against this version. Not this and not next year.

 

[Bonaca]

re-watch that first set... that was brutal.. i mean, brutal! even a super fresh Thiem would've been affected by that..

Nadal has won 12 RG for a reason, remember Stan's annihilation in 2017? You have to do something special to beat him...

Or another type of insanely constant high level tennis in defense and return game. Guess who I mean

 

[Front242]

It’s not about the two games, he would never win against bull even against this version. Not this and not next year.

Never said he'd win but those last 2 sets were clearly the result of the shit scheduling.

 

[Moxie]

0 to do with his schedule, it was Nadal's brutal rallies and intensity... he was mentally down, not physically.... Nadal does that to you. Remember when Nadal crushed Tsitsipas at AO and made Tsitsi look physically and mentally wasted? Tsitsi wasn't tired... Nadal got to him...

Thiem was 100% fine physically, he even said he was fresher than last year... it was Nadal's style of defense/offsense that got to Thiem, mentally. The brutality of those long rallies in first set, Thiem having to hit 2-3 extra shots and at the same time Nadal using offense to move Thiem to every corner of the court... It is a challenge, for even a Thiem with 4 days of rest.

I think it's ridiculous to say that Thiem was 100% physically. He played 3 days in a row, including 3+ hours yesterday. GSM meant his over-all over-scheduling, I suspect. Anyway, I do agree that Nadal's heavy ball and relentlessness takes a physical and mental toll on players, esp. on clay, but you can't say Thiem came in with a full tank today. I don't know if he'd have won, but he'd have been able to make more of a match in the last 2 sets.

 

[DarthFed]

who are you to get into Roger's mind and control him? Roger had great experiences at Roland and hadn't played in many years, unlike you, he isn't a coward and probably wanted to play at Roland for old time's sake... remind himself of the special experiences. The matches weren't particularly taxing for him and i think he probably enjoyed the experience to play RG again and he made semis.... losing to nadal is nothing to be ashamed of. Who are you to tell Roger at 37 what his priorities are? He probably planning to retire soon and wanted to experience RG... he knows what he is doing... you only hate Nadal and Djoker so much that what you care about is Roger extending that slam count lead over the players you hate.... Maybe this isn't Roger's priority so who are you call it a mistake? based on your priorities and worries? ha

Lol same silly bullshit out of you. Of course you, a Roger hater who wants him to slide into irrelevance wants him to do stuff that jeopardizes his chances at Wimbledon. If the man is prioritizing sentimental crap over winning more majors he is an idiot. I doubt he has lost all ambition, he just made a mistake, especially if he's dumb enough to play Halle. By the way when have I ever hated on Novak, that's your imagination.

 

[MikeOne]

Amen

i find it interesting when these roger fans think they know what Roger's priorities should be or are and call it a mistake that he played at RG. Based on what? it's really based on cali's and DarthFed's priorities, not Roger's. Cali and DF just cannot sleep thinking Nadal or Djoker may surpass Fed in slams so now they are worried that RG took something out of roger. First and foremost, his road to semis was fairly routine, his only tough match was vs Stan. Secondly, he made semis... nice run for someone who hadn't played in many years. Lastly, maybe his priority was to experience RG once more, before he retires and making semis gave him a chance to stay in for a while and experience the whole thing... he prob has fond memories of the past. Maybe this is more important to him than extending slam lead... he is pushing 40, Roger will not be around too much longer. WHO are these toads to call out Roger on his priorities? lol.. Roger's mind is Roger's, it doesn't belong to these guys and these guys need to stop losing sleep over Nadal or joker one day maybe surpassing Fed...

 

[Bonaca]

Never said he'd win but those last 2 sets were clearly the result of the shit scheduling.

Think more because of the abnormal game of the bull, mikeone pointed out, 1st and also 2nd set were brutal, and he realises he could not do anything about it. He said it at the ceremony speech, Bull is simply unreal on these slow clay courts and over best of 3.

 

[MikeOne]

I think it's ridiculous to say that Thiem was 100% physically. He played 3 days in a row, including 3+ hours yesterday. GSM meant his over-all over-scheduling, I suspect. Anyway, I do agree that Nadal's heavy ball and relentlessness takes a physical and mental toll on players, esp. on clay, but you can't say Thiem came in with a full tank today. I don't know if he'd have won, but he'd have been able to make more of a match in the last 2 sets.

it's common sense. Thiem is used to playing 2 out of 3 sets all year round, without a single day's rest. He has many times played 3 sets on two consecutive days and it hasn't bothered him. So he played 3 easy sets th, 2.5 sets fri and 2.5 sets sat? in cool conditions with some breaks (rain delays)... You seriously think that a guy who is used to playing 2-3 sets daily, for a full week, on most tournaments without rest can't handle this? think about that, carefully...

the first set was brutal and the second set too... even a Thiem with 2-3 days rest could've gone down 1,1 in last two sets... i've seen Nadal do this to the best over and over again...

 

[DarthFed]

Darth, Roger is one of the greatest servers to a certain point on the court in the history of the game. Andy's serve was very predictable and was so block back into the court..ask Front

As a stand alone shot Roger's serve is clearly inferior to Roddick's. I'm not even sure how it's debatable. Roger may be about as hard to break as Roddick but that is due to having a far superior game to back up his serve.

 

[Andy22]

Nadal clearly at his best right now winning 11 matches in row, he's going to hard to stop at Wimbledon even if you fedheads think his to lose against the first good player he plays, try telling del Potro that. He will say but I lost, because Nadal great grass court player

 

[the AntiPusher]

As a stand alone shot Roger's serve is clearly inferior to Roddick's. I'm not even sure how it's debatable. Roger may be about as hard to break as Roddick but that is due to having a far superior game to back up his serve.

either you are trying to pull my Johnson or you are just looking MPH

 

[Front242]

Think more because of the abnormal game of the bull, mikeone pointed out, 1st and also 2nd set were brutal, and he realises he could not do anything about it. He said it at the ceremony speech, Bull is simply unreal on these slow clay courts and over best of 3.

All that's fine and of course it was a tough ask to expect him to win which pretty much no one did but, again, rested he was winning more than 2 games in those last 2 sets. I'd give any opponent in the top 10 more than 2 more games in those last 2 sets. The scheduling clearly screwed him.

 

[calitennis127]

and if he would've beaten Djokovic in 3 or 4, you would be saying 'Nadal was vulnerable, to Thiem' LOL

I know you too well mr. Nadal HATER!

btw Cali, did you see how Nadal overpowered Thiem? Thiem overpowers Djoker in semis (52 winners vs 39) and in finals? Nadal overpowered Thiem (38 winners vs 31). Rafa is just one amazing phenomenon on clay, best defense and best offense, with ability to OVERPOWER the biggest hitters on tour, Thiem and Wawrinka (who also overpower Djoker). Nadal is BEAST, enjoy him cali, he's unique... stop hating so much.

No way I would have said that Nadal was lucky to avoid Thiem. I did not think that Thiem had more than a 10% chance because of the one-handed backhand.

I was very disapponted all day after Djokovic lost yesterday, believe me.

And yes, I know that Djokovic struggles with Wawrinka/Thiem. I actually started a thread today about that but Tented deleted it because he loves censorship and mind control. What I said in the post was that Djokovic does a miserable job of handling tight service games against those two. If Djokovic is up 30-0 or 3-15 on his own serve against Wawrinka/Thiem, he turns constipated and starts muscling short balls up the middle of the court like he hasn't played tennis in 5 months and is just trying to stay alive.

 

[Bonaca]

All that's fine and of course it was a tough ask to expect him to win which pretty much no one did but, again, rested he was winning more than 2 games in those last 2 sets. I'd give any opponent in the top 10 more than 2 more games in those last 2 sets. The scheduling clearly screwed him.

Ok another scheduling would have changed something, but nothing significant.