Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Cash have some faith in Dominic Thiem at the French Open
With Pat Cash and Lleyton Hewitt , two Australian tennis legends Dominic Thiem are confident of breaking the dominance of series winner Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Feb 11, 2020, 07:48 am
2005 was a year that the organizers of the French Open will probably not soon forget. A Mallorcan, just 19 years old, came to the French capital for the first time this year to take part in the French Open. His name: Rafael Nadal. What followed was a more incredible victory run: Rafael Nadal played 95 matches in Roland Garros - 93 times he was able to leave the place as the winner. Only Novak Djokovic and Robin Söderling were able to defeat the king of the clay court "in his living room". It is therefore hardly surprising that the Spaniard took home twelve of his 19 Grand Slam trophies from Paris.
But for two years now there has been a new star in the sky of the clay court: Dominic Thiem. The Austrian reached the finals in 2018 and 2019, but lost out to the Dominator from Mallorca. Rafael Nadal is too safe, too punchy, too confident at the French Open. Two Australian tennis legends are now convinced that Dominic Thiem still has what it takes to beat Rafael Nadal in Paris. For one, Pat Cash, who told BBC Radio 5 Live, "He (Dominic Thiem) is Rafa's obvious heir to Roland Garros. He is the only one who looks like he can stop Nadal. I believe that he's not far from knocking Rafa out of five sets on the Philippe Chatrier court. "
Djokovic and Thiem know the feeling
To beat a Rafael Nadal in top form, the 1987 Wimbledon winner sees it as very unlikely: "Nobody will beat Rafael Nadal there if he is in top shape. But he will not always be in top shape." On the other hand, Lleyton Hewitt also believes the Austrian, together with the world number one, Novak Djokovic, can do a lot at the French Open: "Novak Djokovic can now absolutely win in Paris. You have to consider both Australian Open finalists . Dominic Thiem will also be in Roland Garros would be a real danger. At this point in time, I would say that the two Australian Open finalists along with Rafael Nadal are the favorites at Roland Garros. "
As mentioned at the beginning, Novak Djokovic is one of only two players who can claim to have defeated Rafael Nadal at the French Open. In 2015, when the Serb bowled the Spaniard out of the tournament in the quarter-finals, but the tournament was still unable to win. Back then Stan Wawrinka did that, who defeated Djokovic in the final. Dominic Thiem has known what it feels like to beat Rafael Nadal in a best-of-five match since the Australian Open 2020. The chances of a surprise winner in Roland Garros 2020 are therefore greater than they have been for a long time. But as Pat Cash (probably) rightly said: "Nobody will beat Rafael Nadal there if he is in top form."