Dominic Thiem now recalls what went wrong for him in his two French Open finals vs Rafael Nadal

Dominic Thiem finished his career with one Grand Slam title to his name, but that tally was close to being higher on a number of occasions.

Thiem, who retired at 31 years of age as a result of being derailed by a wrist injury, reached his first major final at the 2018 French Open, having been denied in the semifinals of the tournament in both 2016 and 2017. The Austrian came through an incredibly difficult draw by beating the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini, Kei Nishikori and Alexander Zverev to reach the championship match in Paris for the first time, where he was met with the hardest task in tennis: defeating Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

Dominic Thiem reflects on playing Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros

Thiem had beaten Nadal on clay twice before that, but had failed to even take a set off him at Roland Garros in their two meetings at the event. At that point, Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic were the only players to have ever beaten Nadal at the French Open. Zverev added himself to that list in 2024.

Thiem ultimately lost to Nadal in straight sets, but played him once again in the 2019 Roland Garros final, and this time had more belief. He beat Djokovic in the semifinals that year and took the second set off Nadal in the final, but lost to the Spaniard for a second time, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

“In 2018, I had too little belief, unfortunately,” said Thiem, reflecting on those matches in an interview with Talking Tennis. “But also it was my first time in the final [of a Grand Slam]. I won Lyon the week before and then I had Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round and Matteo Berrettini in the third round, so it was a really tough draw.

“And I was also already, unfortunately, physically a bit too tired. And also, of course, I had to get used to playing that deep in a Grand Slam. So, unfortunately, the belief was missing there in 2018. In 2019 it was different.

“I was stepping onto the court in the final to beat Rafa, to win the French Open. I was also playing so well. I was in great shape, beating Novak Djokovic before in the semifinals. But I mean, sometimes you just have to accept that on the other side there’s an opponent who is just in a different league.

“And on that specific day, Rafa was unbelievable. It was very painful that day. But also, if I look back now, I’m really proud and happy to face this guy on the other side of the net who was playing this unbelievable clay-court level. So, yeah, it was a great final and a great memory.”

Thiem never reached another French Open final after 2019, but in 2020 he made the title bout at the Australian and finally captured his first and only Grand Slam crown at the US Open, where he came back from two sets down to beat Zverev and hoist the trophy.

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