Dominic Thiem: sobering quarterly balance sheet
With the defeat against Lorenzo Sonego at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami, a quarter of the season comes to an end that Dominic Thiem certainly imagined differently.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Mar 24, 2023, 09:23 am
As is well known, listed stock corporations have to submit quarterly reports in order to inform their shareholders about the course of business. The professionals listed on the tennis exchange get much more up-to-date information, namely every Monday when the respective world rankings are published. Nevertheless, it is worth taking a slightly broader view, precisely because the first quarter of 2023 will come to an end next Friday.
It wasn't good for Dominic Thiem.
At the beginning of the season, the Austrian had formulated the goal of being among the seeded players again in Roland Garros, i.e. in the top 30 in the ATP world rankings. After the early exit in Miami against Lorenzo Sonego, against whom Thiem lost 6: 7 (7) and 2: 6 on Friday night, this would require a few outstanding results in the coming weeks, which were important for the US Start Open Champion on clay in Estoril. Thiem's ranking will currently remain in three digits. What helps are wildcards, like Dominic Thiem recently got for the Sunshine Doubles tournaments or will get in Munich in a few weeks.
Federer just enjoyed winning
But that won't be fun in the long run. At one of his last appearances at the US Open - it may have been 2018 - Roger Federer said that tennis at a slightly older age only gave him pleasure because he still very often leaves the court as a winner. Now Dominic Thiem is currently significantly younger than Federer back then, but a little ecstasy here and there would be nice.
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However, only one match success is recorded: against Alex Molczan in Buenos Aires. And a few matches that could have gone in Thiem's direction - such as the one in Indian Wells against Adrian Mannarino or in Rio de Janeiro against Thiago Monteiro. There were also chances against Sonego in Miami, such as a set ball in the first round. But that can be said for almost any match on the ATP tour that doesn't exactly end with a result of 6: 3 and 6: 2: if the rally or another had gone differently, the winner would have looked different too.
Thiem too much a model student?
Well. That doesn't help Dominic Thiem. Rather the fact that Duglas Cordero is back in the team. Suddenly there are pictures of a Dominic Thiem tearing through the area with a tennis racket outside of his natural habitat. The outspoken fitness guru brings with him the emotion that Lorenzo Sonego feels from within, perhaps even while heading to the Miami Players' Zone lunch buffet.
With Sonego, it is difficult to imagine that as a student in the penultimate row, he followed the lesson with concentration for hours. The Italian seems to have so much energy. Dominic Thiem is perhaps too much of a model student at the moment. And Duglas Cordero could be the man who makes sure that the grade in "Conduct" might be a little lower. the results are better than in this very sobering first quarter of 2023.
Here is the individual tableau in Miami
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