Thiem: Risk Required To Top Nadal

NEW YORK—Dominic Thiem reads his 10 career clashes with Rafael Nadal as an ongoing tale best told by Dickens: the best of times and the worst of times.“It was three very nice experiences and six horrible experiences,” Thiem told the media with a smile after reaching his first US Open quarterfinal with a 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (2) conquest of 2017 US Open finalist Kevin Anderson today.More: Thiem Topples Anderson, Into US Open QuarterfinalsThiem carries great expectations—and major respect—into his 11th meeting with Nadal in the US Open quarterfinal that’s a rematch of the Roland Garros final. Nadal dismissed Thiem, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to capture his record-extending 11th French Open crown in June and take a 7-3 lead in their head-to-head series. Thiem, who celebrates his 25th birthday tomorrow, is hoping to make headway in his first hard-court meeting with the king of clay.“I’m really looking forward to play him on hard court for the first time,” Thiem said. “On clay, I think it’s one of the biggest challenges in sports to beat this guy or to compete with this guy. I hope that it’s a little bit more comfortable on hard court, but I’m not sure.”The ninth-ranked Austrian knocked Nadal out of Madrid, 7-5, 6-3, in May by basically beating the Spaniard at his own game. Thiem followed Nadal’s favored pattern hammering his heavy forehand to the left-hander’s two-handed backhand.“When I was hitting my forehand to his backhand, he was good enough to rest and to send it back with a good ball,” Nadal told the media in Madrid. “Of course, today my forehand was not good enough. I would say today whenever I tried to hit my backhand to his forehand, I was never in a good enough position to place the ball on the lines, to open the court. I wasn’t putting myself in position. He always had position to move around and to play a good shot, to strike the ball in a comfortable position for him.“From there on, it’s difficult to harm a player like him because he’s a very powerful player, he has a lot of strength, he strikes the ball very hard, very violently. When you receive that ball, it’s very difficult to respond.”