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9 for 9: The case for each of the French Open’s top three ATP candidates

By Brandon Daniels

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 30: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory over Mackenzie McDonald of the United States in the second round of the men’s singles at Roland Garros on September 30, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 30: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory over Mackenzie McDonald of the United States in the second round of the men’s singles at Roland Garros on September 30, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images) /
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Austria’s Dominic Thiem celebrates after winning against Norway’s Casper Ruud during their men’s singles third round tennis match on Day 6 of The Roland Garros 2020 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on October 2, 2020. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Austria’s Dominic Thiem celebrates after winning against Norway’s Casper Ruud during their men’s singles third round tennis match on Day 6 of The Roland Garros 2020 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on October 2, 2020. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images) /

3. Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem is most likely the hottest player in men’s tennis as of right now. He hasn’t lost since early August and is riding the winds of his first Grand Slam title into his favorite of the bunch. He’s played incredible tennis so far this week, as well, despite going up against incredibly tough opponents with a large amount of previous Grand Slam results.

His first-round opponent, Marin Cilic, is a former US Open champion with the serving ability to take anyone out. Jack Sock has been a consistent top twenty player in his career and has thrown out a fair number of upsets over top players in his time on tour. Finally, Casper Ruud was expected to give Thiem some trouble given his rising status as a top young player on the ATP circuit but Thiem dispatched him with no issue, just as he had his previous two opponents.

He’s become the tour’s second-best player on clay behind Nadal, which is certainly saying something. As both the two-time defending finalist in Paris and the defending major champion currently, the World #3’s confidence is surely as high as it possibly could be.

Where Thiem has the edge: Confidence and prior success against Nadal and Djokovic at Grand Slams.

In addition to his confidence, Thiem has the past results against his two supermen stars in majors to prove he’s worthy of being named right alongside the two of them in contention this year. He took out Nadal in four sets this past January on his way to a fifth-set finals loss to Djokovic but looked completely in control during his quarterfinal win over the Spaniard. Alternatively, he’s taken his last two meetings with Djokovic at the French Open (in 2019 and 2017), clearly showing his ability to play with the best at the biggest stage.

The only hurdle that remains for Thiem is beating Nadal in Paris. While that’s a monumental feat (Federer hasn’t accomplished this and it took a hobbled Nadal for Djokovic to do so), it could be the stepping stone for not only a title this coming week, but also the beginning of a new era once the Nadal Era has ceased to be in power.

Next. French Open: Three unseeded players that can make the second week. dark

Both Nadal and Thiem take the court tomorrow to begin Week 2, with the former taking on Sebastian Korda and the latter, Hugo Gaston, for their respective shots at yet another French Open quarterfinal bid.

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