Account
French Open 2019: Men's Final TV Schedule and Live-Stream Guide
June 8, 2019
For the first time in over a decade, Rafael Nadal is facing an opponent in back-to-back years in the French Open men's singles final.
A year ago, Nadal took down Dominic Thiem in straight sets on the final day of the tournament at Roland-Garros.
Thiem has another shot to win his first major title Sunday, but he comes in with a significant disadvantage after he was forced to finish off his semifinal win over Novak Djokovic Saturday.
Nadal, who has the most men's singles championships in French Open history, will be on full rest for his attempt at a 12th French Open crown, and 18th overall major, after he dispensed of Roger Federer in straight sets Friday.
2019 French Open Men's Singles Final Information
Start Time: 9 a.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBC Sports app
Nadal has faced seven different opponents in the French Open final, and Thiem is the third player the Spaniard has taken on multiple times.
The opponents have varied each year for Nadal since he beat Federer in three straight finals from 2006-08.
Mariano Puerta, David Ferrer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Robin Soderling, Djokovic and Thiem have all tried to defeat the left-handed champion, but each has come up short.
Since 2010, Nadal has only lost a set in three of the seven finals he has featured in, and he won all of those three matches in four sets.
Nadal's freshness on the court and his dominance at Court Philippe-Chatrier make Thiem's task near impossible Sunday.
In his semifinal win over Federer, Nadal recorded a first-serve percentage of 81 percent and struck 33 winners compared to his 19 unforced errors.
The Spaniard was also hard to break on serve, as Federer could only manage four break points, two of which he won.
Nadal took advantage of Federer's mistakes on serve by forcing 16 break points, but he only converted on six of them.
If Nadal is able to achieve similar success returning Thiem's service Sunday, he could be in line for another straight-sets victory over the Austrian.
Thiem looked susceptible to mistakes on serve against Djokovic, especially after coming back from the second weather delay Saturday.
In addition to losing seven service breaks to Djokovic, Thiem won just 65 percent of his first-serve points.
Thiem was able to earn nine breaks on Djokovic's serve, but there is a slim chance of him receiving 22 opportunities to break against Nadal, as he did against the top-seeded Serb.
The fourth-seeded Austrian must be as close to perfect as possible on serve, like he was in his last meeting with Nadal in April on Barcelona's clay.
In the straight-sets win in Spain, Thiem only gave up three break-point opportunities and saved all of them, while he was able to break Nadal once in each set of the 6-4, 6-4 win.
But even if Thiem produces the best match of his life, there is no guarantee he will be able to conquer Nadal, who has proved on multiple occasions that he is the master of clay.
If Thiem is able to pull off the upset, he would become the first first-time major winner since Marin Cilic at the 2014 U.S. Open.
Since the start of 2015, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have combined to win 14 major tournament titles.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90
Statistics obtained from ATPTour.com and RolandGarros.com