ATP Geneva: Dominic Thiem - "It's a big puzzle"
Dominic Thiemfaces Marco Cecchinato in round one of the ATP 250 event in Geneva. Before the tournament started, the Austrian commented on his current form.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: May 15, 2022, 09:03 pm
Dominic Thiem is still waiting for the first victory since his comeback, on Monday the Lower Austrian will have the next opportunity in Geneva: In round one, the US Open winner of 2020 will have the Italian qualifier Marco Cecchinato, against whom Thiem is the only one so far clash on tour in the semi-finals of the 2018 French Open in three sets.
"Of course, the 2018 French Open semi-final is a match that we both will always remember," said Thiem at a press conference in Geneva on Sunday. However, the signs are significantly different than four years ago: Both Thiem and Cecchinato have largely experienced disappointments in 2022.
Cecchinato 2022 with a horror start
While the Austrian only returned to the tour at the end of March due to injury, Cecchinato lost all eleven matches of the season before the start of the tournament in Geneva. In Switzerland, however, the 29-year-old found his way back to success with comfortable victories over Julian Lenz and Pablo Cuevas.
Thiem is also hoping for a similar development: "It's a big puzzle. Everything is slowly coming together, but some parts are still missing like the forehand. Sometimes it's really good, sometimes I make mistakes that are far too easy. But the main problem is the match -Situations I have to get used to again."
Thiem: "It's not that much time"
Despite his negative run, Thiem is not yet stressed: "I'm still chasing after the first win. But it always comes to my mind that I've only been able to train without pain for about two months. That's not that much time to to make up for the ten months I missed."
At the French Open, which Thiem had announced as a goal of the season before the delay in his comeback, the Lichtenwörther would like to be competitive again. The tournament in Geneva should help him: "This week is great, a beautiful city with the lake. And there are many places here, you can train as long as you want."
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