After being brought to a sudden halt, due to the global coronavirus pandemic – which also resulted in the cancelation of several competitions on the tour, including Wimbledon – the tennis season is now back in full flow, and much to the delight of tennis fans around the world, we are being treated to two of the sport’s Grand Slam tournaments in quick succession!
The US Open took place behind closed doors at Flushing Meadows in New York between August 31st and September 13th, and with heavy favourite Novak Djokovic being disqualified, due to accidently striking a line judge in the throat with a ball, Dominic Thiem went on to win his first Grand Slam title.
The Austrian staged a remarkable come back from two sets down against German Alexander Zverev, who – at 23 – became the youngest finalist in a decade, to win 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) in the thrilling final, and Thiem is now fancied in the bet exchange as one of the favourites to win the upcoming French Open, which will get underway at the Stade Roland Garros on September 21st.
Before his win at Flushing Meadows, the French Open seemed to be Thiem’s most likely shot of victory in a Grand Slam tournament, after all, he is tipped to take over from Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who has won the Roland Garros a record 12 times since 2005, as the ‘King of Clay.’
The pair have become regular opponents in Paris, with the 2017 semi-final being their first meeting in the French capital. However, Thiem didn’t put up much of a fight against Nadal, and the Spaniard won 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 before beating Stan Wawrinka in the final.
Thiem and Nadal met again at the Roland Garros in 2018, this time in the final, but again the Austrian was far from a challenge for Nadal, who again won in straight sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-2). For the third year running, and in back-to-back finals, the pair clashed again. After Nadal won the first set, Thiem hit back winning the second, but the Spaniard won the next two sets 6-1, 6-1 to be crowned champion for the third successive time.
Despite the heartbreak in the two finals, Thiem has cemented his spot as a solid challenger in the clay court tournament with two semi-final and two final appearances in the last four years, and as we said already, it seemed if he was going to win a Grand Slam, it would be that one.
Aside from the French Open, the Austrian has enjoyed success in the Barcelona Open, which is also held on a clay surface. After losing the final 6-4, 6-1 to none other than Nadal in 2017, the 26-year-old got his hands on the Catalan title last year, beating Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0 in the final of the clay court tournament.
Thiem will be in the form of his life after winning the US Open and given his performances at the French Open in recent years, we wouldn’t rule him out putting an end to Nadal’s dominance, and winning back-to-back Grand Slam titles.
