Thiem: 'This was not my last Grand Slam final'

 - Dan Imhoff

The grand prize eluded Thiem this time but as the youngest finalist since his conqueror, he's primed for bigger things.

Gallery final, Dominic Thiem, Roland-Garros 2018©Amelie Laurin / FFT

Dominic Thiem has more cause for belief than most in finding a way to quash Rafael Nadal’s indomitable spirit on the clay at Roland-Garros.

As the only man to have gained the better of the Spaniard on the red dirt in each of the past two seasons, the 24-year-old was arguably the standout No.2 player on the surface.

In his maiden Grand Slam final on Sunday, the world No.8 was reminded how much he had to be proud of his progress and how far he still had to go to close the gap on the 11-time champion should the pair cross paths again in a Roland-Garros decider.

As the youngest finalist in Paris since Nadal claimed the title for a fifth time, Thiem recalled the inspiration of seeing his conqueror break through for the first time in 2005.

“I still remember when you won here the first time in 2005, I was 11 years old watching on TV and I never expected to play the finals here,” Thiem told Nadal during the on-court trophy presentation. “So I'm very happy.”

While the Austrian started nervously to drop his opening serve on the biggest day of his career, he acquitted himself well, riding an aggressive game plan to pull back level for 2-2.

However, looking to back up his recent straight-sets routing of Nadal in Madrid, the wheels began to wobble as four straight errors, including a backhand volley and a forehand metres long, saw him surrender serve again - and with it, the opening set.

“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.

He had just fallen short at the final hurdle to the greatest clay-courter of all time.

“Physically I enjoyed more watching him on the couch,” he grinned.

“But when he won here the first time, actually when he won here the first four of five times, I was always watching it. Of course it’s really a great thing that I made my way and that I was competing in a final against him.

“I gave everything I had, and I’m the loser of today. So at the end, it’s not the best day.”

After two prior semi-final finishes in Paris this was the next step up. Thiem’s journey was only gathering steam.

“For sure, I'm confident that this was not my last Grand Slam final,” he said. “And that's my biggest goal, to get into the next one and then to do it better than today.”