Good luck to all those people betting on the French open final tonight. Just chipping in with my two cents here, I'll be backing Dominic Thiem tonight to win claiming his first ever Grand Slam.
He has shown enough tenacity and power on his way to facing Nadal to make a bold bid to cause the biggest upset of his career so far. He was very impressive yesterday as he endured a 5 set encounter to oust Djokovic and although he will have some signs of fatigue from playing over two days due to rain delays, he is young enough to have the reserves to potentially take down the world number 2 as well.
If he was 3.00 to win or something of the sort I wouldn't have found him that attractive to take but at 4.75 he's worth a punt. He can hit with power from the back and flatten his shots out enough to hit through Nadal on clay as he has shown in the past whilst on having great endurance to last deep into big shot rallies.
Never has he defeated Nadal in a Grand Slam so this will be the perfect time for the Austrian to rise to the occasion and achieve his maiden Grand Slam.
Nadal has looked a beast for the entire tournament. He destroyed Federer in straight sets in the semi final but Federer clearly doesn't have the power or the legs to keep going as much as Nadal. His best shot for another slam will come on Grass at Wimbledon this summer. Thiem at 25 is in his prime and will likely give Nadal a far better run for his money.
Nadal leads the head to head 8 to 4 including 4-0 in Grand Slams. But Thiem beat Nadal in the Semi Finals in Barcelona on clay this year and will take that victory as comfort when he faces the formidable Spanish Bull tonight.
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