Tennis - ATP - Rome Open - Dominic Thiem of Austria v Rafael Nadal of Spain - Rome, Italy - 19/5/17 - Thiem returns the ball. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
PARIS (Reuters) - Dominic Thiem, the only player to beat claycourt giant Rafa Nadal on the red dirt this season, is one of the dark horses at the French Open - and the Austrian feels he deserves the tag.
The 23-year-old sixth seed at Roland Garros beat the Spaniard - who has won a record nine titles in Paris - in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters shortly after losing a tight final to him in Madrid and another final to him in Barcelona.
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