Dominic Thiem: "For me, the Grand Slam victory over number one"
Dominic Thiem speaks in his big interview at Sport am Sonntag in ORF, Austria, about his biggest goal, challenges off the field and the Davis Cup.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jun 01, 2020, 08:19 am
It's been a long time since Austrian fans were allowed to see Dominic Thiem on the pitch. Since last Wednesday, the time has come again, and the country's number one has been at the Generali Austrian Pro Series ever since. So far, the Lichtenwörther has performed very differently. Against Lucas Miedler and David Pichler it looked as if the third in the world rankings had not paused at all, but in the second group game against Sandro Kopp you noticed that something had been missing in the game in recent weeks.
Performance fluctuations, which are not a thorn in Thiem's mind at this stage, he is currently in a "test phase", as he tells in an interview with ORF : "I have now done a lot of strength training. You can't do this during the season, because then two or three important tournaments are gone, but now only a few training sessions went wrong. You can try a lot, simply because there is so much time now. But there are also a few things on the place where there is room for improvement and it was important that I now set myself the goal of improving these things during idle time. And that if it goes on again, I have fixed these things. "
"Federer knows exactly when he has to start again so that he is then fully back"
Thiem therefore chooses a completely different tactic than the man whom Thiem has just replaced in fourth place in the world rankings, Roger Federer. A few days ago, he said that he was currently not training because there were no tournaments . A statement that Thiem believes in any case: “I believe him already. He has a completely different constellation than many others and has four children at home. He has often had the case in his career that he was unable to train for a long time. He knows exactly when he has to start again so that when it starts again he is fully there, "Thiem told the public broadcaster.
If not on the ATP tour, at least Thiem will have some tournaments in the next few weeks where he will serve. "If everything goes smoothly, I will be in Belgrade on the 13th and 14th, then in France, then in Berlin, then there will be the invitation tournament in Kitzbühel. It is cool that normal life starts a little again," explains the 26-year-old has his roadmap for the next few weeks. In Belgrade, Thiem will open the Djokovics invitation tournament, then show tournaments in Berlin and France will wait before Thiem's own production, the "Thiem's 7" in Kitzbühel.
Thiem: "Grand Slam victory over number one"
And then? Then it could go on slowly with the ATP tour. The US Open, French Open and also some of the European clay court tournaments are currently working at full speed to find solutions as to how the tour can continue in autumn this year. Then the attack on world rankings could continue for Thiem, recently the Lichtenwörther had made the leap into the top 3 for the first time.
When asked whether reaching number one was the really big incentive in his career, Thiem named another, bigger goal: "It is of course an insane goal for me and it would be incredible to achieve that. But in mine Personal goals mean the Grand Slam victory is number one and if I could choose one, it would surely be the Grand Slam victory. ”
"There are some problems in tennis"
The position that Dominic Thiem currently holds in a world sport also brings with it a lot of public attention, which can of course quickly turn negative. For example, with Thiems statements about the player funds, which led to an outcry from some players. In an interview with ORF , the Lichtenwörther clarifies his true point of view again: “For me the topic was eaten straight away because I was really misinterpreted. There are some problems in tennis, especially with Challenger players. They all play such great tennis and it may not be that they win some big tournaments and make a minus, there are some things that are not right. I also stand by that I want to choose the players I want to support. There are very, very many players who have earned every single cent, but there are also some who do not, ”said the Lower Austrian.
No impact on the Davis Cup
In the interview, Thiem said that, like the Bresnik and Muster causas, are things that are part of the life of a professional athlete: “Sure times are behind me, also because of that. But it is also the challenge of the tennis player profession that there are always such times. It will never be quiet there. That is why it is important to emerge strengthened from such things. "
There have also been troubled times in Austrian tennis in the past few weeks, after Wolfgang Thiem's newly founded performance center is now also planning to compete with ÖTV. A fact that should not have any influence on Thiem's Davis Cup career: “If I want to play the Davis Cup, I will play. It has no connection at all to the other. I also always liked to play Davis Cup. if there is any way I love playing the Team Davis Cup this week. Of course I also hope that the final tournament will take place in Madrid, "said Thiem.