Dominic Thiem and the attack on number one: "Not now"
After his success at the US Open, Dominic Thiem traveled to Paris for the French Open on Wednesday. The 27-year-old is one of Roland Garros' favorites, and with one title he would even become number two in the world.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Sep 23, 2020, 09:05 pm
Thiem is currently 725 points missing from Rafael Nadal. A major title brings 2,000 points, at the French Open Thiem could therefore improve by 800 points compared to the finals in 2019. "In my head, the French Open are in the foreground," said Thiem at a media appointment after the US Open.
And further: “Of course that one big goal is now ticked. I want to take advantage of the tailwind of the US Open title in Paris. ”In the“ special year ”2020, the US Open and Roland Garros are closer together than ever before. Two weeks after the New York finals, the main competition begins in Paris.
Thiem is still missing about 2,000 points on world number one Novak Djokovic, but the Serb is six years older than Thiem. Nadal is another year older, the fourth Roger Federer is already twelve years ahead at 39. On fifth, 24-year-old Daniil Medvedev, Thiem has a cushion of over 3,000 points.
Thiem: Number one "buzzes around in the head"
“Number one,” said Thiem, “is buzzing around in my head somewhere, but not now.” Even if the position at the top was “not bad”, the ranking “never had the top priority for me”. “It is the same now. The next goal is the French Open. I only look at the ranking after a good result at a major tournament, how it looks in front of and behind me. "
The Lower Austrian will continue to prefer tournament victories at prestigious events in the future. "If things should go up even further at some point," said Thiem, "I wouldn't complain."
Thiem does not have much room for improvement this year: The 17-time ATP tournament winner has to win the French Open in order to add more counters to his account. Points from the previous year are not excluded from the evaluation due to a special regulation of the ATP. He won the Erste Bank Open in 2019, at the Paris Masters he was eliminated in the round of 16. At the ATP Finals he was defeated by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.