‘Most frustrating’ part of facing Rafael Nadal at French Open revealed by former world No 3

Dominic Thiem has revealed that reminders of Rafael Nadal’s staggering record at Roland Garros before facing the Spaniard was “one of the most frustrating” things about facing the Spaniard.
Nadal won 22 Grand Slam singles titles across his career but is synonymous with the French Open, where he won a historic 14 titles, ranging from 2005 to 2022.
The Spaniard won 112 matches at Roland Garros compared to just four defeats, with Robin Soderling (2009), Novak Djokovic (2015 and 2021), and Alexander Zverev (2024) the only men to beat him.
Among those to taste multiple defeats to Nadal at the tournament was Thiem, who played Nadal four times at the French Open.
Thiem was beaten by Nadal in the second round in 2014 and the semi-final in 2017, before back-to-back final defeats in 2018 and 2019.
Before every match at the tournament, a player’s tournament record is read out – which means all of Nadal’s triumphs were mentioned by the stadium announcer ahead of all of his matches.
Speaking to Relevo, Thiem revealed that this was “very frustrating” to deal with in the build-up to a match against Nadal.
“One of the most frustrating things is when you’re warming up on court just before the match starts,” said the former world No 3.
“The speaker starts listing all his Roland Garros titles. The crowd is getting crazier and crazier and the noise is going up, up, up.
“It’s very frustrating for the opponent. It’s actually a wonderful thing because the crowd gets fired up and everything goes crazy from one moment to the next.
“You’re playing against an absolute tennis legend, and things like this just confirm that, but yes, in the moment, I can guarantee you that it is very frustrating.”
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Thiem was beaten 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 by Nadal in the 2018 final – his first of his four Grand Slam finals – and then fell 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in a rematch the following year.
The Austrian is one of just three men to face the former world No 1 in multiple French Open finals, alongside Roger Federer (2006-08, 2011) and Novak Djokovic (2012, 2014, 2020).
While he tasted defeat both times, Thiem admitted he was “proud” to have faced the ‘King of Clay’ at his most successful tournament.
He added: “Honestly, now, from a distance, I am very proud of those two finals against him.
“If I think about it, I had the opportunity to play twice against the best player in history at Roland Garros. Rafa won the tournament 14 times and two of them he did it against me.
“It is something that makes me proud.”
Though he was 0-4 against Nadal at the French Open, Thiem did find success elsewhere against the Spaniard, winning six of their 16 matches overall.
And the 31-year-old did eventually get his hands on a Grand Slam title, losing the 2020 Australian Open final to Djokovic before defeating Alexander Zverev in the 2020 US Open final.
Much like Nadal, Thiem called time on his career in 2024, retiring at his home event in Vienna.
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