Dominic Thiem - finally arrived in the concert of the greats
Dominic Thiem , despite the bitter final final defeat against Stefanos Tsitsipas, can look back on a gratifying finale in London. The Austrian proved at the ATP Finals that he finally arrived in the concert of the greats.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Nov 18, 2019, 01:47 pm
Much is not missing to the biggest triumph of his career so far. At 4: 4 in the tie-break of the final set, Dominic Thiem was only three points from the win at the ATP Finals in London - but it should be different. So Stefanos Tsitsipas should finally be the winner of the final ATP event of the year, but Thiem can proudly look to the week in the English capital.
With Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic the Austrian defeated two absolute legends of tennis sports, only to take a few days later defending champion Alexander Zverev in two sets from the tournament. Also in the final Thiem offered a very mature performance, the happy ending missing in the end probably only a few inches.
"Blow in the face"
These positive sides could not recognize the 26-year-old immediately after the final. Thiem spoke of the "probably bitterest defeat" of his career, especially the beginning of the second set was fatal to him: "The break to start the second set with two tight mistakes was a slap in the face."
Nevertheless, Thiem proved once again in London that at least since this year he has to count on Hartplatz. Impressive evidence of this is provided by a look at the statistics of the season 2019: The Lichtenwörther brought in Indian Wells, Beijing and Vienna three titles on hard court and thus one more than on his beloved clay courts.
But that is not the only reason why the new world ranking fourth will be expected in the coming season. Thiem is now much more stable in tight game situations than a few years ago, and usually meets the right decision even with tight scores - a reason why the 26-year-old was the best player of the year behind the "Big Three".
First Grand Slam title next year?
Thiem himself also spoke of a good development and emphasized: "I can take a lot of positive things from this week and this year." In 2020, it will be above all a matter for the Lower Austrian to consistently perform well in the Grand Slam tournaments. This season Thiem came out only at the French Open on the second round.
Nevertheless, Thiem is on a very good way and has arrived in the concert of the greats at the very latest since the ATP Finals - and who knows, perhaps the Austrian will be the player who will receive his first major title as announced by Alexander Zverev next year. Definitely Dominic Thiem is to confess after these achievements.