Dominic Thiem: More than just eye to eye with the Big Three
At the latest with his tournament victory in Indian Wells last year, Dominic Thiem reached the top of the world. A look at the statistics also shows that.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 11, 2020, 06:00 pm
It feels like an eternity, but in principle it wasn't that long ago. When Dominic Thiem lost to Novak Djokovic in five sets in the final of the Australian Open at the beginning of this year, it was probably also clear to the Austrian's most pessimistic observer: The Lichtenwörther is ripe for his first Grand Slam victory.
The only problem from the perspective of the world number three: the big three. As Thiem himself repeatedly emphasizes, at one of the four major events it is almost mandatory to beat two of the possibly three best players of all time. This naturally refers to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Seven wins since 2019
But although Thiem did not manage to break the dominance of these three exceptional athletes at the Grand Slam level in the past two years, statistics from the ATP give hope. According to this, the 26-year-old has even been ahead in the internal head-to-head comparison of the four currently best tennis players since 2019.
Overall, Thiem has had seven victories against Djokovic, Nadal and Federer since the beginning of last year - and that with only three defeats. Against Federer, the Austrian was able to win all three duels, and Thiem has also been 2-1 ahead in head to head with Nadal since 2019. Only against Djokovic is the record balanced with two wins and two defeats.
Great opportunity in New York
For comparison: Djokovic won six of his ten matches against Nadal, Federer and Thiem in the same period. Nadal (3: 5), like Federer (2: 6), has a negative balance against the rest of the group. The conclusion of the ATP article: The world number three has the power, the constancy and the mental strength to permanently challenge the big three and take two further steps up the world rankings.
Thiem could take a first step towards world number one at the next two tournaments. Because both at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati (this year in New York, cancellation due to illness last year) and at the US Open ( first round against Thomas Fabbiano ), the Lower Austrian hardly has any points to defend. And who knows, maybe he'll succeed in the first really big coup in the Big Apple. After the cancellations of Nadal and Federer, Thiem would have to get rid of Djokovic at most one representative of the "Big Three" out of the way.