The future of tennis? We watched Tien upset Medvedev on the Australian Open’s AO Animated livestream to find out

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:

Thank god I didn't ever play Rafa on clay. Oh and oh and oh and oh and oh
— Mardy Fish (@MardyFish) June 9, 2017

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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.

Hey Mardy, you actually played Rafa on clay, it was Madrid '06. Sorry for reminding you of it haha big fan of you man!! We miss you #Legend
— Enrique Cavero (@kikecaverom) June 9, 2017

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.

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I did ...... it sucked https://t.co/ndt4IIQSC9
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) June 9, 2017

One responder tried to comfort Roddick:

It's hard enough on Xbox never mind in person 😳
— Ross Claychard 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺 (@AllThingsGenie) June 9, 2017

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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.

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Wawrinka on Nadal: 'I think to play Rafa on clay in
French Open in a final is probably the biggest
challenge you can have in tennis'
— Matt Cronin (@TennisReporters) June 9, 2017

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.

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