French Open | Dominic Thiem heaps praise on Rafael Nadal's amazing clay run

French Open | Dominic Thiem heaps praise on Rafael Nadal's amazing clay run

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After being comprehensively beaten by Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem has stated that the latter’s record is “exceptional” and his 11th French Open title is one of the best achievement in sports. He has also added that it was simply not his day and he couldn’t succeed despite giving his everything.

Thiem was the only player to have beaten Nadal on clay in the last two years with a win in Madrid earlier this year and Rome Masters in 2017 and wanted to win his first slam. However, the “King of Clay” was just too hot for him to handle as Nadal kept his dominance on the Philippe Chatrier Court going to secure his 11th Roland Garros and 17th major title. Although Thiem didn’t win, he is not short of any confidence. 

“For sure, me, I’m confident that this was not my last Grand Slam final, and that’s my biggest goal, to get into the next one and then to do it better than today. It’s a really great thing, honestly, but still, I’m disappointed, of course. It was a final. I really wanted to win,” Thiem was quoted as saying by BBC.

“I gave everything I had, and I’m the loser of today. So at the end, it’s not the best day.”

Nadal’s love-story with the Roland Garros is a story told so many times to be repeated here, and since winning the trophy for the first time as a 19-year-old in 2005, the Spaniard made it his own and didn’t let any player achieve greatness at the French capital. And Thiem joked that he enjoyed Nadal more on TV as a child. 

“Physically I enjoyed more while watching him on the couch. When he won here the first four or five times, I was always watching it. Of course, it’s really a great thing that I made my way and that I was competing in a final against him.”

“It’s definitely one of the best things somebody ever achieved in sport. But if you win a Grand Slam tournament 11 times, one single one, then this is just very exceptional and amazing. You need to have, I think, many extraordinary skills and talents and work ethic to achieve that.”

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