Dominic Thiem: Today Rublev, from tomorrow only Team Austria
Dominic Thiem arrived in Melbourne on Friday night. The exhibition match against Rafael Nadal was important - sporty and for the soul.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 31, 2021, 07:55 am
It also got late for Dominic Thiem and his team on Friday: After the exhibition match against Rafael Nadal in Adelaide, they went to the airport, the arrival at the airport in Melbourne was only around midnight, the arrival at the hotel naturally a little later. Austria's number one enjoyed the experience of finally playing tennis again in front of a large number of people.
Wolfgang Thiem also appreciates that this was only possible due to the Australians' outstanding discipline. "You shouldn't forget that the people here were in a tough lockdown for seven months," Thiem recalled in an interview with tennisnet.com. Dominic's match against Nadal was an initial assessment, an important one, even if the result (the Spaniard won 7: 5 and 6: 4) was not remarkable. The event as such: "It was a dream for the players."
Thiem with an incredible understanding of the game
Noticeable, however: Dominic Thiem has often shown himself on the net. "It is important that he is looking for the way forward," continues Wolfgang Thiem. “Dominic is basically a very creative player. Since his youth. He has an incredible understanding of the game. Because you have to play well on the defensive too. It doesn't help if you just drum on every ball, but you have no understanding of the game, no placement. That's what has been stolen from him in recent years. That is coming back more and more now. And that's good."
Dominic Thiem got the Saturday off training, on Sunday he can finally run again with Andrey Rublev, one of his preferred training partners, on Monday the team training with the Austrian team is on the plan. All units are already completed in the John Cain Arena, where Austria will play on the night from Monday to Tuesday at the start of the ATP Cup against Italy (from midnight live on ServusTV, Sky and in our live ticker).
In contrast to Thiem, Dennis Novak and Tristan-Samuel Weißborn, Philipp Oswald had to go into hard quarantine. The double veteran is therefore starting his upcoming tasks with a training deficit, which, however, does not unsettle Wolfgang Thiem as the Austrian ATP Cup captain. "With two or three days of training it should be fine."