Four-time Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal has won 14 out of 14 matches since the start of the clay-court season, and will play for a third successive title on Sunday. His opponent will be Austrian Dominic Thiem, who defeated Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-4.
Date: May 14, 2017
Match time: 6 PM local time / noon EDT – New York, Montreal / 5 PM BST – United Kingdom / 6 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / Monday 2 AM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Thiem 4-1, with all five of their matches coming on clay. Rafa dropped just five games in defeating Thiem two weeks ago in the Barcelona final.
Rafa, who moved to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with a quarter-final win over David Goffin on Friday, will bid to tie Novak Djokovic atop the Masters 1000 titles leaderboard with his 30th crown. Should our champ lift the trophy in Madrid, he will overhaul Roger Federer in the rankings table and return to the world’s top four.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Source: ATP World Tour
Got get it sweet Champ 𗀃𗀠
The best of luck 🍀🤞🏻
❤️U! – VAMOOSS!! 🎾💪🏼😘
Cmon Rafa!!!
What’s the matter?
He doesn’t seem to be himself.
VAMOS!!!!
Rafa too nervy at the start. Pls try to relax. You’ve just beaten Novak yesterday.
It’s on. 😊
Good luck, Rafa. Hope the weather is fine and there’ll be no rain or gusty winds.
🍀🍀🎾🎾💪💪🏆🏆🇪🇸🇪🇸
if he feels tired after winning madrid title then moya and uncle tony should tell him to skip rome and rest for the french open otherwise he will be too tired.
should rafa lose today for somehow then no panic he still the main favourite for french open
Good Luck Rafa, well done so far. Hugs from Bermuda. 👍🇧🇲👍
OLA OLA OLA & VAMOS DEAR RAFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) Have a great time sweetheart & lots of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) We will be singing with your adoring crowd : GO RAFA GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) Lots of love sweetheart & happiness & enjoy everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
Rafa, your mom may just get a belated surprise Mother’s Day gift, your third title in less than a month. I can only imagine the pride she already feels for her son, the great champion Rafa.
RAFA ROCKS
Very hard to imagine Rafa not taking this one, based on all recent encounters.
I like Thiem a lot, and he is very likely to be, once Rafa is gone or truly in decline, the next best one on clay. His day will come, but it will not be today. (No jinx, please.)
Should be great tennis though. Thiem is very exciting to watch.
Go out today Rafa and grab yourself another trophy , this will be the 5th time you have met Thiem on the clay courts, and even though it’s his favourite surface as it is yours , he has only ever beaten you once and that will remain the case still ,after today’s match. Thiem has been playing some great tennis and you no doubt will have a fight on your hands, as a win today would see him go from the No.8 seed to No. 6 but it’s nothing you can’t handle. .2017 has been a brilliant year for you so far and long may it continue.😀🏆🇪🇸
I’m really looking forward to this final Maria. Although I have a definite soft spot for dominic, there is nothing that I want more than rafa to win madrid. Support for thiem is on hold today as it was in barcelona. His time will come I’m sure but not today
Maria this bodes well for rafa today as the best umpire is doing the final. Yes. I’m hoping that it’s a perfect day.
Hi Susie, yes I was so happy to see my secret crush Inthe umpires chair once more, and it was a good omen as Rafa once again took the crown. Thiem played very well and looks like it could be a very promising year for him , although after Rafa I will have to root for Andy ( happy 30th birthday tomorrow Andy,). But the only one who really matters is obviously Rafa ,and I couldn’t be more pleased for him . His reaction when he won was absolutely adorable .
I am thrilled that Rafa has reestablished himself as the player to beat in Roland Garros . Bestinv Novak the way he did a is a major accomplishment that bodes well for the Rafa 2017 .His confidence is restored and ebbing and his game is working on all cylinders . Just amazing on clay , Rafa is on the way to making us fans very pleased with a turnaround that we all were cautiously optimistic about .Vamos Rafa !!!
Rafa, will you play Rome or is the sweet taste of success too strong for you to stop and rest for Roland Garros. Whatever your choice I am in your corner.
Great tennis to you.
RAFA ROCKS
Some tennis pundits are lauding Thiem as the best clay-courter, after Rafa. I hope it’s a competitive match but I am hoping for a Rafa straight-sets win. By now, Dominic may be shaking in his sneakers after having seen Rafa’s journey to the final.
Get that fifth Madrid title Rafa. All the BEST to you. You are amazing!!!!
RAFA IS ROCKING MADRID, TOO
I think that’s true, at the moment., re Thiem as best after Rafa. Goffin is more or less equal to Thiem from what I’ve seen though, on clay.
Djok and Waw have the capacity to be better than the young ones, but not showing it now.
I really like Thiem, and he reminds of Rafa in some ways–the intensity. Also, he sort of has Rafa’s behind. LOL!
Hi rafalite. I’ve said many times in the past that thiem reminds me of rafa in so many ways but not because of his tennis. He is polite, mostly well behaved (apart from that recent racquet smash – but that was out of character – lol), he’s respectful and works really hard. I do support him whenever he is playing but when it’s against Rafa, there is really no choice. Dominic you will have to wait a while as it’s rafa all the way today.
LOL Staring at another player’s behind. Shame on you. I hope Rafa’s not the jealous type.
RAFA ROCKS
sort of similar, not as tightly cute though ……: )
The Tennis Channel in the US has as its question of the day,”Should Rafa Skip Rome?” The experts were on both sides. I do worry that Rafa will be tired today, but he wants this title so much. Thiem is only 23, but he has played a lot of tennis and was on court until after midnight yesterday. A win today will again tie Rafa with 30 Masters and move him up to 4 in the rankings passed Roger.!
I’m not sure but pretty sure if Rafa skips Rome he will lose enough points to drop him back down to #5 (presuming he wins today, which I am) going into RG. That matters! But no fan would want to play Rome and ruin himself for RG from over-playing.
I hate to start speculating on these things because no fan or pundit knows exactly what Rafa is feeling in his body. He’s the one who knows, and if he’s feeling anything worrisome, he won’t be saying it now.
Obviously if his body feels OK he’s going to play Rome. The one I wonder about skipping is Wimb. Rome he is likely to win. Wimb: not. He’s defending no points at Wimb.
Hopefully there is no cool down after that emotional win over Djoker.
One more match Rafa, go all out and get this trophy! And then you can rest for… Oh wait, there’s Rome again this week. Wow how do these guys do it?
Good luck Rafa! Have fun, keep up the intensity, and stay healthy! Mwah!
Rafa said in interview after his match against Djokovic that he felt a ” bit tired ” in the second set.
I am amazed that he could still stand up after all the tennis he has played in the last few weeks.
I feel there will be only one thing stopping him if he loses the final, and that will be exhaustion.
However he seems so determined to win at the moment that I am still optimistic he will be biting the trophy once again.
Play your best and Good Luck for today’s final match !!!
Vamps Rafa! All the Best for today’s Final. Keep you Confidence Level high through out on the route to 10 th RG Championship
Good luck tomorrow Rafa vamosssssssssssssssssssssssss.you can do it.🎾🎾🎾🎾👍👍👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸😃😃😃😃❤️❤️❤️❤️😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇
Good luck for the final. Vamos Rafa <3