Dominic Thiem in front of Wimbledon: "Field slides closer together"
Dominic Thiem has given himself a break after the second French Open final of his career. A good three weeks after the final against Rafael Nadal, he opens a lawn exhibition in Hurlingham. He expects many close matches for Wimbledon.
by Lukas Zahrer
last edit: Jun 28, 2019, 11:32 am
For two weeks, Thiem barely picked up a racket. During a short vacation in Greece, he recharged his batteries before completing his first training sessions without a racket with brother Moritz. “The clay court season was long. It is important to give the body rest in order to save energy in the second half of the season, ”said Thiem, explaining his approach. “I want to travel to Wimbledon in a fresh, hungry and physically fit condition. That was not the case last year. "
For the first time in his career, he waived a preparatory tournament prior to Wimbledon. Last year, his hard-working tournament schedule was fatal when he started one week after Roland Garros in Halle. Too early and a mistake, as Thiem admitted later in the season: he injured himself slightly in the preparation, the ailments forced him to do a job in the first round match against Marcos Baghdatis on Church Road.
“The tournament last year went completely wrong. I was very annoyed that I had to give where. So I don't do anything actively. But I will passively consume tennis to scout a little bit for Wimbledon, ”said Thiem a few days after the French Open final, his agenda for June.
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Dominic Thiem: Training with Nadal & Wawrinka
It can be doubted that Thiem will get a lot of rhythm in his match against Nick Kyrgios on Friday at the Aspall Tennis Classic. But Thiem traveled to England at the beginning of the week, training on the courses at Roehampton, the venue for the qualification for Wimbledon, with Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka among others.
" It is great fun to play on grass, especially because this section is so short in the season," Thiem brushes aside the theory that he would not enjoy playing on grass. In 2016 he already won the Stuttgart tournament; on the way to the title he beat Roger Federer in the semifinals - despite a deficit. The following year he achieved his best result so far in Wimbledon: In the second round he failed in five sets against Tomas Berdych.
“The most important thing is all the footwork. There is no slipping, the body's center of gravity is much lower, ”says Thiem, what matters when it comes to turf.
And further: “It is much more difficult to break on grass. A stupid loss of premium can cost you the rate. The entire field is therefore moving closer together. "
Nevertheless, Thiem sees the usual suspects in the role of favorites. The differences to the other rubbers are getting smaller, said Thiem, which is why the top players would always prevail in Wimbledon.
For "the most prestigious tennis tournament", as Thiem calls the third Grand Slam of the year, he has no specific goals. The physical fitness is in the foreground. "If I play my normal tennis, I have a good chance of getting relatively far," he said.