Dominic Thiem names his biggest competitors for the 2020 season
After his first grand slam final on hard court, Dominic Thiem assessed the balance of power at the top of the world rankings. The 26-year-old names five players, whom he sees as the biggest competitors on the way to his first major title.
by Lukas Zahrer
last edit: Feb 08, 2020, 04:17 pm
After a mixed start to the season at the ATP Cup, Thiem played well in Melbourne. He took the first four hurdles - with the exception of a five-set game in round two - without any major problems. In the quarter-finals, he beat Rafael Nadal in four impressive sets before clearing Alexander Zverev out of the way.
In the final of the Australian Open, however, he was beaten by Novak Djokovic, even though he was already leading 2-1 in sets and found a break chance in the fourth set.
It is exactly those three names that Thiem is one of his biggest opponents when it comes to the next step in his career. “Sascha is playing really well again. Tsitsipas and Medvedev are almost as strong competitors as the big three, ”said Thiem at a media event after the Australian Open.
But who is the big favorite for the remaining three Grand Slams in 2020, according to Thiem? “Nadal has a slight advantage over Djokovic on sand. It's exactly the opposite on hard court, ”says Thiem, who also doesn't write off the maestro:“ Federer is particularly good for a win at Wimbledon. ”
Dominic Thiem: fight for number three in the ATP ranking
After the tournament in Melbourne, Thiem takes a short break from the ATP tour at home. In the coming week he will travel to Rio de Janeiro again, where he will open at the Rio Open (February 17th to 23rd). He is number one in Brazil, winning the clay court tournament in 2017. Last year he lost to Laslo Djere in the first round.
Another ATP 500 tournament is taking place in Dubai at the same time. There Roger Federer serves as defending champion. With Thiem, the Swiss will have a remote duel for number three in the ATP ranking.
Federer is currently 85 points ahead of Thiem and has to win the tournament in Dubai to defend all 500 points, which he will definitely not count towards the end of February. A final move would only bring in 300 points, 200 less than in the previous year.
Thiem, on the other hand, can only win: his quarter-finals from Buenos Aires and the first-round defeat by Rio from last year are not among the top 20 tournaments (including the ATP Cup & ATP Finals) that are included in his ranking.
"I would be very happy if the number three works," said Thiem about the situation in the ranking. “Normally it should also happen because Federer has a lot of points to defend. Number four was a long time ago. But that's not the main goal. I want to get my level from Australia at every tournament, then the career high will fall soon. "
Thiem achieved his best position in the ATP world ranking for the first time in early November 2017 with fourth place. Also last summer and after the ATP Finals 2019, he was ranked behind the Big-3, with his final entry in Melbourne, he again passed the fourth in the meantime, Daniil Medvedev. Since June 2016, over three and a half years ago, Thiem has been one of the top ten players in the world.