The Prince of Clay Dominic Thiem is closer to the throne than ever
As the final season of 'Game of Thrones' is being aired, there is another hustle for dominance - in the real world - which is getting closer to its conclusion. The Kingdom in this case is the surface of clay and the prize is the throne upon which 'The King of Clay' sits.
As of now, the undeniable King of Clay is Rafael Nadal. But after the Barcelona Open the prince of clay Dominic Thiem seems ready to challenge Nadal's supremacy on the surface .
Nadal has entered the month of May this year without a single title for the first time since 2004. On the other hand, Thiem has won two titles this year already - at Indian Wells and Barcelona. And after his win over Nadal in Barcelona, the Austrian has become only the second player after Novak Djokovic to have beaten Nadal on clay more than thrice.
What has Thiem improved this year, and where does that put him in the race to the top? Thiem has been one of the best claycourt players on the tour for the last few years and his high level of fitness, immense power off both wings and high topspin in his shots support his candidature to be the successor of Nadal.
Before 2019 he had beaten Nadal when the best version of the Spaniard hadn't shown up on court. But when pitted against an in-form Nadal, Thiem had been outplayed in one-sided matches - like at Monte Carlo and Roland Garros last year.
This wasn't the case in Barcelona this year, where Thiem defeated the 11-time champion in a very high-intensity encounter. Such was Thiem's dominance, especially on his own serve, that Nadal wasn't able to create a single break point opportunity until the last game of the match. And while returning too Thiem was constantly under the skin of Nadal, creating multiple break point opportunities (of which he converted two).
Throughout the Barcelona Open Thiem won more than 50% of his return points, which is an outstanding achievement for the Austrian. He has started being more attacking while returning, and is not standing as far back behind the baseline as he was last year. He is also using the angles off his backhand side more often.
For the opponents like Nadal and Daniil Medvedev, who stand way back, Thiem has developed an almost inch-perfect drop shot. That was a supremely effective weapon for him in Barcelona.
There is no denying the fact that Nadal's level has dropped a little on clay this year. But the King of Clay is called that for a reason - he can up his level in a jiffy. To dethrone Nadal, Thiem has to be wary of a retaliation by the Spaniard, and he also has to overcome his inconsistency, which has often been his Achilles' heel.
Nadal has already hinted that he has only 2-3 years of professional tennis left in him. It would be interesting to see if Thiem becomes a better claycourt player than Nadal in that time, or if the Spaniard leaves the tour as the unconquered King.