“It was a bad game, but I did the right plays always, and I just missed some close balls,” Thiem said. “In general … game-wise it was a good game. It was just terrible misses. It was, for sure, not the turning point.”
On a muggy, sunny day, talk of rain interrupting play late in proceedings never materialised. They were conditions, Thiem admitted, worked slightly in his opponent’s favour. Despite needing massages to ward off a left-hand cramp late in the match, Nadal sealed the title before clouds closing ominously could scuttle his surge to the finish line.
“It's suiting him perfect. It's similar to Monte-Carlo where he's also playing amazing. I think best of three or best of five, all the top players are on a really good level physically, so it's not that big a difference,” Thiem said.
“Here the court is very big. We can return very far behind the baseline. That's an advantage to him. Also to me [but] against all the other players.”
The straight-sets defeat was not the outcome Thiem had in mind. After a gruelling fortnight and a heavy schedule building up to this point, it was time for recovery and reflection.