Roddick and Fish joke over playing Nadal on clay

Jun 09, 2017
Travel

Destination Tennis: Owl’s Nest Resort

By Megan Fernandez Apr 26, 2024
Pick of the Day

Jaume Munar vs. Jan-Lennard Struff, Mutua Madrid Open

By Zachary Cohen Apr 26, 2024
Style Points

Adrian Mannarino has a clothing sponsor! Lefty to debut with Celio at Mutua Madrid Open

By Baseline Staff Apr 25, 2024
Your Game

Geared Up: Rafael Nadal plays out his illustrious career with Babolat and Nike

By Baseline Staff Apr 25, 2024
Pop Culture

Review: Plenty to be excited about in TopSpin 2K25, which successfully recreates the joy (and frustration) of tennis

By Stephanie Livaudais and Spencer Thordarson Apr 24, 2024
Pop Culture

Coco Gauff dishes on 'embracing adulthood' in TIME magazine's May cover story

By Baseline Staff Apr 24, 2024
Pick of the Day

Roberto Carballes Baena vs. Dominik Koepfer, Madrid

By Zachary Cohen Apr 24, 2024
Line Calls

ATP Mutua Madrid Open Betting Preview

By Baseline Staff Apr 24, 2024
Social

It's a girl! Belinda Bencic welcomes her first child, a daughter named Bella

By Baseline Staff Apr 24, 2024

Roddick and Fish joke over playing Nadal on clay

Nadal moved into his tenth French Open final by shutting down Thi

Published Jun 09, 2017

It was the late stages of Rafael Nadal’s French Open semifinal demolition of No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem and plenty of observers were watching with awe. Retired American Mardy Fish had this to say:

Advertising

Fish defeated Nadal one time in nine career matches (on Cincinnati hard courts in 2011), but was reminded of something that he might have been trying to forget.

Fish did lose 6-4, 6-2 against Nadal on Madrid’s clay in 2006. Someone who understands Fish's pain is his good friend Andy Roddick.

Advertising

One responder tried to comfort Roddick:

Advertising

Roddick had three wins in 10 career matches against Nadal on the ATP tour, and his two matches on clay had the added pressure of Davis Cup road matches in Spain.

The American lost in the 2004 Davis Cup final in Seville on indoor clay 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-2 against a teenage Nadal. He also lost 6-4- 6-0, 6-4 in the Davis Cup semifinals in Madrid shortly after Nadal had risen to No. 1 ranking for the first time in 2008.

Humor aside, the Americans’ reactions are a sample of the anguish that players must overcome to challenge Nadal on clay. In the first set of the semifinal, Thiem tried to outhit Nadal but quickly fell behind, and never really caught up. His impatience and frustration mounted with increasing mistakes, and his body language sagged as the match sped to its rapid conclusion.

Thiem had defeated Nadal in Rome for the Spaniard’s only clay-court loss in 2017 in Rome, but he was swept aside in Paris, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.

If there’s one player who has proven that he can stand up to the pressure, it’s Nadal's final opponent, Stan Wawrinka.

Advertising

Maybe that’s the best attitude of all from a man who defeated Nadal for the 2014 Australian Open title and who won his other two majors (the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open) by defeating Novak Djokovic in the finals.

Advertising

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for Roland Garros to watch 200 live matches from up to five courts, starting with the Qualifying Rounds.

· Watch the Best of Roland Garros 2016 on-demand at any time

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for all of Roland Garros, as well as 650+ live events all year long

· Tennis Channel Plus is available on any streaming device, on mobile, always on the GO (desktop, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire)
· Subscribe today at BuyTCPlus.com