Pollution and population are at record high levels, and people are debating if climate change is real and well, Donald Trump is the president of the United States. Doesn’t seem like a good time to be alive right? But if you are a sports fan, I don’t think there’s been a better time to exist. Ronaldo and Messi going at each other, Golden State despite losing out on a three-peat have established a dynasty, Tiger Woods coming back to win his 15th major and Mercedes quite literally destroying the other racing teams. Even though these are tremendous achievements, they are nothing close to what this one man alone has done. He’s defied the law of averages, and he’s been doing it for the past 12 years. Rafael Nadal.
Tennis is not a frightening sport, but going up against this man instills fear even into the best of them. And if that clay is of the Phillipe-Chartier court, it goes up to an entire another level. These are not baseless claims, as Dominic Thiem would agree. The Austrian defeated Nadal in the 2019 Barcelona Open semifinals, an event which Nadal has won 11 times giving him some hope and momentum before the marquee clash in the French Open but boy were his hopes dashed.
One might argue that Nadal had a smoother draw and Thiem had been playing for three straight days and whatnot, but the fact remains; Nadal has never been taken to the fifth set at French open finals. He has never been beaten in consecutive matches in clay, has a 24–0 record in the last two rounds of the French Open and a staggering 93–2 record at the tournament as a whole. What’s even better, is his win percentage on the surface is a staggering 92 with 55 titles. It’s almost impossible to wrap your head around such statistics, but this guy doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. He’s the king of clay, and he’s bound to win, so what’s all the hype about right? At 33, his body with its many repairs isn’t what it used to be. The past four years have seen Nadal take a familiar route through the year, go past the quarters of the Australian open, rest his battered body in time to win the French Open and the clay court tournaments preceding it. Then drag his bruised body to yet another disappointing Wimbledon exit, possibly at the hands of Dustin Brown(the only player to have a 0–2 record against Nadal); recuperate and recover and try to make it in time to win the US open and skip the Tour finals to go through the routine the next year. He may seem invincible, but the raging bull’s horns are not what it once was.
This year’s win was all the more difficult as he almost did not win a title at any of the previous clay court tournaments. The Parisian crowd, which has accepted the Spaniard as their beloved son, seem to be opening a spot for Thiem as well in their hearts. With two consecutive final appearances, the Austrian had set foot into the king’s throne room. But only a fool would write him off for at least the next couple of years. He may not be the guy who won 50 consecutive sets or 81 straight matches on clay, but he still is the guy who holds 118–2 record in clay five-setters. He’s not a one trick pony, just bullying others on clay. After all, he’s the youngest player ever to win career grand slam combining it with an Olympic gold medal. He may be huffing and puffing to each of those powerful left-hand backhands, but he’s still the type of guy to give everything you have from the very first point to the end no matter what the score. And he’s willing to lay it all out on the line, and he’s not afraid to let the people see that. With 18 grand slam titles, just two short of Federer’s 20 and Tokyo 2020 coming up, the question isn’t whether he will surpass Roger but of when.
