Dominic Thiem: He wants to play these tournaments in 2020
Dominic Thiem has announced on his website the tournament schedule for the first half of next season. After that he seems to want to renounce the Masters tournament in Monte Carlo.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Dec 12, 2019, 10:44 am
Thiem starts his mission 2020 at the ATP Cup in Sydney . The new event will take place from January 3rd to 12th, 2020 (see also on ServusTV). This will be followed by the Australian Open from January 20th to February 2nd (also on ServusTV), where Thiem can make up a lot of things: Last year, Melbourne lost his job in round 2 due to illness. In general, the Lichtenwörther wants to do a lot better with his new hard court power in the first major of the year - the best result here is to outdo the last sixteen, which he had achieved in 2017 and 2018.
From 10th to 16th February, the ATP 250 tournament in Buenos Aires , which Thiem has already won twice (2016 and 2018), will follow; Last year, the semi-final against Diego Schwartzman was over. Then, from 17 to 23 February, the 500th event in Rio de Janeiro (where he won the title in 2017) and failed in 2019 to kick off Laslo Djere.
From 12 to 22 March, Thiem will head to Indian Wells , where he is the defending champion . In one of the best matches of the year, the 26-year-old beat Roger Federer in the final , earning his first Masters title and hinting for the first time that in the future also on hard court is to be expected with him.
No Monte Carlo for Thiem?
From March 25 to April 5, the second Sunshine Doubles event will be held in Miami ; Here Thiem was defeated in 2019 to kick off Hubert Hurkacz.
Then comes a surprise in the plan: It seems Thiem wants to give up the clay court start in Monte Carlo. The Masters tournament takes place from 13 to 20 April and was actually one of the fixed points in the tournament calendar. Possible that Thiem extends his preparation for sand something, especially since it was never really satisfactory in Monte Carlo for him: Only a quarter-finals (2018) is here in the list of success; last year was in the second round against Dusan Lajovic conclusion. The question: Is not a Masters participation actually obligatory, if one does not - as Roger Federer for example - for reasons of success and age may waive? Already - but Monte Carlo is not a "Mandatory" event, as the only Masters by the way. A non-appearance for Thiem thus has no consequences, he does not need to be a "zero" to write in the ranking, but can score points at other events instead of in Monte Carlo.
Barcelona as a sand prelude
Thiem will start his clay court journey at the 500th tournament in Barcelona , which will take place from April 20th to 26th and which he won last year against Daniil Medvedev (after winning in the semi final against Rafael Nadal) .
Followed by the Masters tournaments in Madrid from the 4th to the 10th of May (in the semi-finals against Novak Djokovic in 2019) and Rome from the 11th to the 17th of May. (2019 opening defeat against Fernando Verdasco).
And then, of course, the highlight of the year: the French Open from 24 May to 7 June (including on ServusTV). Of course, this is Thiem's full attention. 2018 and 2019 were already in the final, both times Rafael Nadal was too strong - in this year, however, Thiem was equal in the first two sets. Will it take 2020 for the big hit?
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