Coaches Corner: How do you play successfully against Dominic Thiem?
Professional tennis coaches see more - which is why we simply ask how to play against the big players in the industry. In part 3 of our series, Tobias Summerer , Florian Mayer's longtime coach, analyzes Dominic Thiem's game .
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 15, 2020, 07:12 pm
In early summer 2016 Tobias Summerer and his protégé Florian Mayer saw a lot of Dominic Thiem. First Mayer prevailed in the semi-finals in Halle / Westphalia in two sets, Thiem retaliated a few days later in the first round of Wimbledon. After Mayer's resignation, Summerer took on Philipp Kohlschreiber's coaching for a few weeks. At the moment, the ex-professional in the service of the Bavarian Tennis Association is looking after the youngsters at the TennisBase Zentral in Oberhaching. And of course Dominic Thiem is still watching very closely.
What are the special qualities of Dominic Thiem?
What you saw last from Dominic in Melbourne was very, very impressive. I really enjoy watching him. I admire his performance - how he plays, his attitude. The move to Nicolas Massu was also important. I have the feeling that it keeps improving.
He is extremely fit. And damn fast, he gets a lot of balls back. Dominic plays with a lot of effort, never holds back, hits all balls, even from behind the baseline, with a lot of speed.
Dominic's kick serve is one of the best in the world, his first serve is a monster floor. The backhand is great, as is the slice. And he also has touch when he needs it.
How do you play successfully against Dominic Thiem?
Flo hit him at the time, but also lost at Wimbledon a week or two later. Dominic had just won his first lawn in the week before Halle, but was probably a little tired towards the end. And Flo played a sensational tournament overall.
But then Dominic was number seven, now he's number three. He has taken another giant step, hats off.
It is certainly easier to play against him on grass. Because in the meantime it has become world class on hard courts. You have to play your own service games in a very dominant way, and you have to install serve-and-volley every now and then, because Dominic still chips the return sometimes. You can play the volleys quite well - if you are the right type of player.
Another way is to try to put Dominic under pressure with the first stroke in a rally. It takes away the time he sometimes needs on faster rubbers.
If possible, Dominic's game should be destroyed, even if it hits. To play quickly and in the middle of the return is currently a popular tool. So build up pressure with the first stroke, then, if possible, get to the point. But that is too damn difficult: Dominic has improved a lot when it comes to getting back on the line. From there you can no longer play it away.
But these are minor things. Dominic is number three in the world. And therefore hard to beat. If so, you can only get it over the first two or three strokes.
Some data about Dominic Thiem (statistics refer to the past 52 weeks)
| Date of birth | Overall tournament wins | Tournament wins 2019 | Service games won | Decision sentences won | Breakpoints blocked |
| 03.09.1993 | 16 | 5 (Indian Wells, Barcelona, Kitzbühel, Beijing, Vienna) | 85.5% (ATP rank 13) | 76.2% (ATP rank 4) | 64% (ATP rank 22) |
Selected head-to-heads by Dominic Thiem
| opponent | Balance sheet |
| Noavk Djokovic | 4: 7 |
| Rafal Nadal | 5: 9 |
| Roger Federer | 5: 2 |
| Daniil Medvedev | 2: 1 |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 4: 3 |
| Alexander Zverev | 7: 2 |
| Gael Monfils | 6-0 |
| Matteo Berrettini | 2: 2 |
| David Goffin | 3: 7 |
| Fabio Fognini | 3: 1 |
| Denis Shapovalov | 3-0 |
| Stan Wawrinka | 1: 3 |
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