Against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer: Dominic Thiem's five biggest matches
Dominic Thiem has played at the top of the world in recent years and is now ranked third in the ATP world rankings. We take a look back and bring the five biggest matches of the Austrian.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Mar 27, 2020, 08:26 am
5th place: Dominic Thiem vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Beijing 2019
Even before the final of the ATP 500 event in Beijing, Dominic Thiem could speak of a successful trip to Asia. The Austrian had not won a single win in his previous appearances in China's capital. Against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 26-year-old now had the chance to make the first win follow the title. However, the Greek is anything but a simple opponent on hardcourt, with strong serve and net play, Tsitsipas often wins the points quite quickly. And the last duel of the two went to the Greek youngster. In these autumn months of 2019 Dominic Thiem was in exceptionally good shape, a fact that Stefanos Tsitsipas also felt in this final. The Greek secured passage one, but after Thiem was able to equalize with a 6: 4, the Austrian was unstoppable. With 6: 1 Thiem removed the then seventh in the world rankings and secured his fourth title of the season at that time.
4th place: Dominic Thiem vs. Roger Federer, Indian Wells 2019
Number four also dates from the previous year, a season in which Dominic Thiem performed more strongly than ever before. The match, which comes fourth on this list, was also involved: Dominic Thiem's first triumph at the Masters 1000 level. The Austrian, with neo-touring coach Nicolas Massu in the pits, got into a frenzy at Indian Wells last year, standing in his first Hardcourt Masters 1000 final after a tremor win over Milos Raonic. The opponent in this could not have been more difficult, as Roger Federer was a 20-time Grand Slam champion. That day in March was the time for Dominic Thiem. The Austrian made up 0: 1 set deficit and secured the break in the third round at 5: 5 at exactly the right time. Five points later it was time for a forehand Federers landed on the net, Dominic Thiem was able to celebrate the greatest success of his career so far.
3rd place: Dominic Thiem vs. Novak Djokovic, French Open 2019
Dominic Thiem against Novak Djokovic in the capital of France was probably the duel in 2018 with which Dominic Thiem had achieved the absolute breakthrough. The Austrian dominated the Serb, yes he even gave him the highest penalty in set three with 6: 0. This duel was playfully one of the great appearances of the Lichtenwörther, but even more impressive was the performance that the 26-year-old delivered a year later, again against Novak Djokovic. For four hours and thirteen minutes, Thiem and Djokovic fought at Court Philippe-Chatrier, five sets were needed to find a winner in this match. In a crazy nerve battle, partly due to bad weather conditions, Dominic Thiem finally won 7: 5 in the decision set. An act of strength, a mental exception, a deserved third place on our list.
2nd place: Dominic Thiem vs. Rafael Nadal, Australian Open 2020
Defeating Rafal Nadal in a Grand Slam is one of those achievements that only a very elite group of players will ever achieve. Dominic Thiem had to acknowledge this in his first best-of-five duels with the Spaniard. The Austrian had already tried five times and had failed five times due to the superiority of the Mallorcan. Although Thiem had already failed in two French Open finals at the Spaniard, the defeat at the 2018 US Open was probably the most bitter in a Grand Slam matchup with Nadal - the Austrian had so close to 19 times the Grand Slam -Champion brought to a Nederlage. In 2020 the Lichtenwörther should finally overcome this hurdle. With an impressive performance, newly gained nerve power, which was expressed in three won tiebreaks, and an excellent match plan, Thiem managed to beat Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam for the first time and also played in his first final at the Australian Open. In first place, this duel scraped by very thinly.
1st place: Dominic Thiem vs. Novak Djokovic, ATP Finals 2019
This is grabbed by another duel with Novak Djokovic - a match-up that is a guarantee for really big games. So also at the ATP finals last year, when the two faced each other in the preliminary round. Dominic Thiem had surprisingly defeated Roger Federer in two sets in his first match, while Novak Djokovic had no problems at all when he first appeared with Matteo Berrettini. The two met ergo in top form. The fact that Dominic Thiem was working on a slight cooling beforehand did not seem to affect the quality. On the contrary: The Austrian tried to keep the pace high, delighted the audience in the London O2 arena with grandiose baseline winners. And Novak Djokovic? He did what he does best: brought back almost every attack by the Austrian, but also made no mistake without need. There were two balanced opponents facing each other that evening. Consequently, a tie break in the third set had to bring the decision. With the better end for Dominic Thiem, the Austrian put the crown on his dream performance, Novak Djokovic hit hard court for the first time. Number one in the ATP ranking of the best games 2019, number one on our list.