“Roland Garros is Still a Special Situation”: Dominic Thiem on Rafael Nadal Being a Roadblock at French Open

World No.4 Dominic Thiem didn’t have an ideal start in the 2021 tennis season. The Austrian didn’t manage to reach the quarters at the Australian Open 2021 and lost in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships 2021. He later withdrew from the Miami Open 2021 since he was not feeling completely fit.

In a recent interview, Dominic Thiem claimed that things are getting more balanced in tennis these days. He stated that earlier only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic used to win the Grand Slam titles. However, he believes that this is not the case anymore in the sport.

“Things are getting more balanced. Roland Garros is still a special situation because Nadal is above others there. Elsewhere, it’s open,” said Thiem in the interview.

Even though he mentioned that it is open for all now to win a Grand Slam, he highlighted that the French Open is still a special situation. The US Open 2020 winner admitted that Rafael Nadal is still really difficult to beat there. Interestingly, Thiem has himself lost to Nadal in two consecutive Roland Garros finals.

“Now six or seven people can win a Major”- Dominic Thiem

Thiem reiterated the value of the next-gen players in the sport and said that now, six or seven people are capable of winning a Grand Slam title. He emphasized that those times are gone now when only Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic had the potential of winning a major.

“Now six or seven people can win a major. Before it was just Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic,” added the Austrian player.

Thiem is not in his best form at the moment and so will be desperate to make a good comeback in the upcoming clay-court season. With a poor 5-4 win-loss record in 2021 so far, he’ll surely like to put the poor start behind him and gather momentum as soon as possible.Also Read: Dominic Thiem Says He is Only ‘at 10%’ of His Top Form Ahead of Return at Serbia Open 2021