There was a time, not long ago, when Dominic Thiem was better placed than anyone to emerge as the next new champion on these grounds. For four consecutive years, from 2016 and 2019, Thiem marched deep into the French Open draw and allowed himself to be taken out by only the greatest.
He reached two semi-finals, then two finals. He toppled Novak Djokovic twice, including an immense 2019 semi-final played partly in apocalyptic wind across two days. He was brilliant, at some point the second-best clay-courter in the world, and for three consecutive years only the greatest of all time on this surface could stop him.
