Dominic Thiem - "For the first time in my life no goal in sight"
Dominic Thiem joins the Generali Austrian Pro Series today at 4 p.m. (live on TV and livestream on ServusTV in Austria and in our live ticker) with the match against Lucas Miedler. Austria's number one has also used the past few days for media work.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 26, 2020, 10:07 pm
After the final at the Australian Open, Dominic Thiem urgently needed a break. The cancellation of the start of the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Buenos Aires was a logical consequence, Rio de Janeiro was also not worth the trip for the current third in the world rankings: After the defeat against Gianluca Mager from Italy, Thiem continued Los Angeles, where he wanted to prepare to defend his title in Indian Wells. Thiem quickly realized that this opportunity would not arise until 2021. The month-long interruption of the game due to the Corona crisis came as a surprise to the 26-year-old, as he revealed in an interview with the Austrian standard .
The cancellation in Indian Wells would not have hurt him, said Thiem. "Nobody realized that others would follow. Then Miami was history, we flew home, and it became clear that the entire clay court season would be canceled. I didn't know the first week and a half at home. I was fit and healthy, I'm in it Woke up early and for the first time in my life had no goal in mind. That was strange. "
Thiem - "Difficult but without alternatives"
Participation in the Austrian tournament series, which was postponed for two days due to rain, is definitely a sensation. As a target, however, not to be compared to a stake in the French Open, where Thiem had reached the final for the second year in a row. Roland Garros will remain an option in 2020, with new water level reports from Paris almost every day. Most recently, the President of the French Tennis Association, Bernard Giudicelli, had even announced that he would take the major scheduled for the start date September 27 to spectators.
More likely, however, are matches without fans in the near future, as is the case in Südstadt, where Thiem is scheduled to serve against Lucas Miedler on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Roger Federer had recently described such a scenario at a Grand Slam tournament as at best suboptimal, Petra Kvitova even went so far as to say that she would prefer to cancel a performance over empty seats. Dominic Thiem really wouldn't go that far.
On tour with Djokovic and Zverev
"The most important thing about ghost games is that people at home watch live sports again in front of the television," said Thiem in the standard interview. "It is difficult for the players, but there is no alternative. I followed the German Bundesliga, it was not really good for me. But it is positive that you can feel the competitive atmosphere. It will only be good again with spectators."
Especially in this regard it will be interesting to see how the conditions at Novak Djokovic s posh "Adria Tour" will be. Thiem will be there as well as Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov , the proceeds will go to a good cause. If you go after the rapid developments of the last few days, it suddenly no longer seems entirely out of the question that a few spectators will be able to watch tennis live from mid-June.