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 Quarterfinals
Thiem 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."
Thiem says risk is required to stop Nadal, who is riding an 11-match winning streak in New York and has won 26 of his last 27 matches.
"I think that I have very powerful ground strokes, and I can even hurt him with them," Thiem said. "But the key is to play really fast and powerful. But on the same time, not make too many mistakes.
"Yeah, I did it sometimes against him, but it's a risky game style also, because it can happen that I make too many mistakes and then it looks black."
Ultimately, Thiem says beating Nadal is one of the toughest tests in sport because it's nearly impossible to match up with the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
"I think nobody's game really matches up well with his," Thiem said. "That's why he's so unbelievably successful. No matter what, it's always really tough to play against him. As I said, I'm really looking forward to see how it is on a different surface than clay."
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open