Dominic Thiem vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: revenge for the most important defeat of his career
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has just drawn himself on Saturday as first-round opponent of Dominic Thiem . The two meet in the Wiener Stadthalle, as in 2013. At that time it was nothing less than the most important defeat of his career for Thiem.
by Lukas Zahrer
last edit: Oct 21, 2019, 03:58 pm
"That I can really become a good tennis player, someone who can make it to the top, I know since October 18, 2013."
That day, Thiem played his second quarter-final at an ATP tournament. He was just in the top 150 in the world rankings, his opponent was one of the ten best players in the world.
The Wiener Stadthalle tournament was one of the 250 category. Unlike today, it did not coincide with that event in Basel, but a week earlier in October. Tennis fans knew Thiem as a promising talent, the majority of Austria, the name at that time may not have been familiar.
Nevertheless, the barely 20-year-old achieved something that barely seemed possible years before: He moved the masses. There were so many spectators in the Wiener Stadthalle that they had to open an additional rank, which was closed for cost reasons the years before. Around 7,000 people wanted to see the match of Austria's tennis youngster.
And these 7,000 spectators were given a spectacle.
"The fans were happy to have found someone from the new generation with whom they can cheer," says Tsonga in the run-up to the Erste Bank Open 2019 talking to tennisnet about that match. "They knew: Austria now has a new icon."
skywien
Dominic Thiem vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: When the city hall shook
Already in the first sentence Vienna sensed a sensation, as Thiem earned 3 breakballs in his view 3: 2. But Tsonga turned a 0:40 uncompromising with five points in a row to win the game. A little later, the Frenchman was ice cold: With his first break chance he got the break to 5: 4 and then served successfully to set.
The second set resembled the first: Thiem was again 3: 2 forward, again there were break opportunities for the Lower Austrian, this time even four pieces. Again it was Tsonga who got the game. But Thiem remained unimpressed: he worked his way up again in the next return game 0:40, this time he took his serve to zero from his opponent and put a little later on 6: 3. The city hall shook.
A crucial third set had to come. While Tsonga managed his serve games confidently, Thiem also showed what he was capable of. Rise up to 230 km / h fast, aggressive baseline strokes - more often he brought his opponent in distress.
In the meantime, the audience had to come up with something new: already in the second sentence they clapped until the hands tingled. To keep up with the level on the court, they began to stomp additionally in the decision set.
Tsonga over Thiem match: "It was incredibly tight"
Tsonga led there with 5: 4, when it got hot: Thiem had to fend off a match point.
Said. Done. Mashed.
The match came to a head, it had to be a tiebreak. Thiem gave his first two serves and should not recover from a quick 0: 3. Tsonga moved into the semi-finals. In sympathetic manner and almost apologetically, he thanked the Viennese audience for the great atmosphere.
"It was incredibly tight," Tsonga says six years later. "What surprised me was his level despite his young age. Today I understand it better, because he played at the time as he has been showing for many months now. He will be one of the best players in the world for many years. "
Thiem left the field as a loser, but gained the knowledge to demand players of absolute top level. "That day, for the first time, I understood what was possible for me. And how much Günter had been right all those years ago, "writes Thiem in the preface to the book by former coach Günter Bresnik, The Dominic Thiem Method .
# # IMG2
Günter Bresnik to Dominic Thiem: "What was going on in the third set?"
His longtime mentor did not see the match live in the hall as he ran Ernests Gulbis in Stockholm. Thiem telephoned Bresnik after the match.
"I wanted to talk about how great the match was, how unbelievable the atmosphere in the full hall, 7000 people had screamed for me. He was only interested in the reasons why, as ATP number 149, I did not win against number 8, "says Thiem.
"What was going on in the third sentence?", Bresnik should have asked him. "Junior, we still have a long way to go. We are really only at the beginning. "
Bresnik's hardness and Thiem's joy over his strong performance have another component that left the duo in the weeks and months ahead of the 2013 Vienna tournament violently doubted in a professional career.
Five months earlier Thiem was in a hospital in Baden, not far from Vienna. Blood, stool and urine were examined for four weeks to cope with Thiem's inexplicable periods of weakness, which occurred regularly in his late youth. The doctors discovered a bacterium that is only active for a short time and causes its damage, and is detectable only at that time.
"How much the disease had hindered him, can only be measured by its explosive development, after he had survived," writes Bresnik himself. "From the hospital in the top 100, it had taken just eight months."
Not three years later Thiem moved into the top 10 for the first time, his place there he did not give up until today. Now, Thiem has the chance to retaliate for the most important defeat of his career.
"It's a very, very difficult lot. He is definitely one of the best players of the last decade, "says Thiem about his first round opponent from Vienna.
"That will not be easy. It will be a big challenge for me. After the match, I said it would be a lot harder in a couple of years, "Tsonga says.
# # Img3
It will be the third duel of the two on the ATP Tour. The second clash lost Thiem, in Indian Wells 2016, it set in the second round a clear two-set defeat in 68 minutes. "It's nice that I now get the chance for a revenge. It's definitely one of the most unpleasant lots I could get. "