ATP Finals: From winning the Argentina Open to giving Rafael Nadal a bagel at the US Open, Dominic Thiem's remarkable 2018 campaign

How Dominic Thiem qualified for the ATP Finals Dominic Thiem has been an ever-present name in the top-10 men’s singles tennis rankings for a couple of years now, and the 25-year-old Austrian’s 2018 campaign has shown why he is so highly rated. Thiem has won three titles this year, with his first coming in February at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, where he defeated Gael Monfils and Aljaz Bedene en route to the title. [caption id=“attachment_5533101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Dominic Thiem in action during his semi-final match against Karen Khachanov at the Paris Masters. Reuters[/caption] His second trophy of the year came in May, at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon in France, where he saw off Gilles Simon and Dusan Lajovic. His triumph at the Lyon Open was part of an extremely successful campaign on clay, which saw him reach the finals of Roland-Garros and the Madrid Open, which he lost to Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev respectively. Thiem struggled at Wimbledon, retiring in a first-round match against Marcos Baghdatis with a back injury. He was losing 4-6, 5-7, 0-2 at the time of retirement. However, he did well in the other two Grand Slams, reaching the Round of 16 at the Australian Open and quarter-finals of the US Open, where he famously handed Nadal a bagel in the first set, before eventually slumping to defeat over five sets.

Dominic Thiem is the ONLY player in the history of Open Era tennis to bagel both #Nadal and #Djokovic at Grand Slams.
Bageled Djokovic at RG last year. Bagels Nadal today.

One of the most unique records a player can possess.#Thiem #USOpen

— Utkarsha Mitra (@utkarsha97) September 5, 2018

The Austrian’s third title of 2018 came at the Saint Petersburg Open in September, where he beat Daniil Medvedev and Roberto Bautista Agut on his way to the final, in which he defeated Martin Klizan. Dominic Thiem’s 2018 in 280 characters Dominic Thiem has been a constant thorn in the side of his opponents, putting in some excellent performances against big names. Thiem won three major titles, namely the Argentina Open, the Lyon Open and the Saint Petersburg Open. He also reached the Roland-Garros and Madrid Open finals. One thing you didn’t know about Dominic Thiem The Austrian may be a top-10 tennis player, but football is one of his favourite sports, and he is a fan of English Premier League side Chelsea Football Club. Thiem’s admiration for the sport has driven him to create his own football team, named 1. TFC Matzendorf.

Dominic Thiem’s best performance of the season Thiem has played a couple of great matches against Nadal over the course of 2018, testing the Spanish veteran in difficult defeats at the US Open quarter-finals, the Roland-Garros final and the Monte-Carlo Masters quarter-finals. However, his best result against Rafael Nadal came in the Madrid Open, where he beat the then World No 1 7-5, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

World No. 7 @ThiemDomi becomes 1st player since himself to win a set from Rafael Nadal on clay, taking 1st set of #MMOpen QF 7-5. Nadal's consecutive sets streak ends at 30 overall and 50 on clay. His last set and match lost on clay was to Thiem in 2017 @InteBNLdItalia QF.

— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) May 11, 2018

Dominic Thiem’s head-to-head record against Group Lleyton Hewitt opponents Dominic Thiem 2 vs 6 Kevin Anderson Dominic Thiem 2 vs 1 Roger Federer Dominic Thiem 1 vs 3 Kei Nishikori For the rest of the profiles of contenders at the ATP Finals 2018, click  here .