4 times Dominic Thiem dominated Rafael Nadal on clay court ft. Italian Open 2017
Dominic Thiem has announced his decision to retire at the end of the year. This comes amid his consistent struggle with form on the ATP Tour due to injuries.
Dominic Thiem was the sensation in the tennis world back in 2020 when he won his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open that year and attained his highest-ever ranking of World No. 3. However, his form and performances on the court have gone downhill since then due to a horrendous run of injuries.
In June 2021, Theim badly damaged his right wrist during his match at the Mallorca Championships. Since then, he never fully recovered from that injury and never recaptured the form that saw him emerge victorious at Flushing Meadows. Now the 30-year-old has decided to draw curtains on his promising career at the end of the 2024 ATP Tour.
Over his nearly 14-year career, Dominic Thiem has stunned fans with his performances and holds an impressive 16-19 win-loss record against the 'Big 3'—Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. Thiem played most of his 'Big 3' matches against Nadal (16 matches and 6 wins in them) and even managed to beat the 'King of Clay' on his favorite surfaces on multiple occasions.
With that said, let's take a look at four instances in which Dominic Thiem got the better of Rafael Nadal on clay courts:
#4 2016 Argentina Open
Dominic Thiem faced Rafael Nadal for the second time in his career when the duo clashed in the semifinal of the 2016 Argentina Open. Theim, then 22 years old, was seeded No. 5 while Nadal was the top seed and the defending champion. The Austrian took the first set by breaking the Spaniard twice, while the latter leveled the score in the second set.
Nadal was close to ousting Theim in the third set as he had a match point at 5-4 but failed to covert. The set went into a tiebreaker, and Thiem edged past Nadal and registered his first win over him, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4). The Austrian went on to win the ATP 250 tournament on red clay.
#3 2017 Italian Open
Dominic Thiem's next win over Nadal on clay court came in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Italian Open. Coming into the match, the Spaniard was in formidable form on clay, winning 17 straight matches on the surface that year. Two of these wins came against Thiem in the finals of the Barcelona Open and Madrid Open.
But the equation between the two took a 360-degree turn as Thiem rattled Nadal with his powerful groundstrokes and defeated him in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. This was the Austrian's second career win over the Spaniard.
#2 2018 Madrid Open
After the loss in Rome in 2017, Rafael Nadal went on another unbeaten run on clay court. That streak was broken at the 2018 Madrid Open by Dominic Thiem. The duo competed in the quarterfinals in the Spanish capital, and the Austrian emerged triumphant in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.
Thiem broke Nadal five times in the match en route to his victory. The Spaniard lost his World No. 1 ranking as a result of his loss.
#1 2019 Barcelona Open
Dominic Thiem is amongst the few players who has bettered Rafael Nadal more than once on his favorite surface. The Austrian's fourth clay court win against the 14-time Roland Garros champion came at the 2019 Barcelona Open. Thiem faced Nadal in the semifinal of the ATP 500 tournament and defeated the 11-time Barcelona Open champion in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal was out of sorts in this match, committing five double faults and failing to convert three breakpoint chances on Thiem's serve. The Austrian would go on to win the 2018 Barcelona Open.