ATP Rio de Janeiro: Dominic Thiem is fighting for a new career high
For Dominic Thiem , the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro is about a new career high. For this, the Austrian needs at least the semi-finals.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Feb 17, 2020, 08:29 pm
The goal is clear. "I want to be number three in the world," said Dominic Thiem ahead of the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro. A semi-final entry in Brazil would be enough for the Austrian - Thiem would get 180 points for him, at the same time 90 points from the event in Hamburg would be dropped from the rating.
This 90 point difference would be enough for Thiem to be ranked third in the world rankings for the first time in his career next week. The 26-year-old currently ranks 85 points behind the 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in fourth place.
Due to the not too difficult draw , the Austrian can definitely be expected to enter the semi-finals - also because Thiem will once again act on his favorite surface sand. "Playing on ashes again is like coming home for me," said the Lower Austrian.
Thiem 2017 with victory in Rio
The fact that he will only play on clay once in South America after the cancellation for Buenos Aires in South America does not change this: "For me it is not a problem to only play on sand for a week or two and then switch to hard court again", says Thiem.
The tournament victory from 2017 also made things much easier for Thiem: "I have great memories and have won here before. It is therefore very easy for me to come back here."
Digested defeat to Djokovic
The kick-off for Thiem is on Tuesday (from 11:00 p.m. CET) against the Brazilian wildcard holder Felipe Meligeni, who is only 341 in the world rankings. So Dominic Thiem shouldn't have too much fire - after all, the 26-year-old started the season with the finals at the Australian Open better than ever before.
The bitter five-set loss against Novak Djokovic is coped with: "I feel great for my performance in Melbourne. Of course the defeat in the final was a big disappointment. But after some time it was a great tournament and a great start to the season. I hope I can can keep this good shape ", the top seeded Austrian was quite optimistic.