French Open: Dominic Thiem - English standards and a guaranteed starting place
Dominic Thiem will enter the French Open 2019 on Monday. He has long been familiar with the new conditions.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 26, 2019, 08:42 am
By Jens Huiber from Paris
The crowd of Austrian journalists at the French Open 2019 is still rather manageable. And so there is a small round early Saturday evening in which Dominic Thiem spends almost half an hour providing information about the current state of being (excellent), the potentially turbulent past weeks (all half as wild) and the somewhat distant future (with great anticipation) gives.
Thiem came straight from his training with Jan-Lennard Struff. During the good hour on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the two of them had a surprisingly large crowd in the stands, who were not afraid to applaud with appealing points. And that is tender, but still audible again for a happy “Do-mi-nic! Do-mi-nic! ” The mood did not suffer significantly from the onset of rain, which Thiem and Struff could not drive out of the square. It was "English conditions", not a problem for someone like Dominic Thiem, who as a second career path would probably have followed that of a professional football player. Preferably at Chelsea FC. And in the English drizzle.
Thiem lives with girlfriend Kristina Mladenovic
Thiem should have had his first practice session of the day with Alexander Zverev, two hours were planned. The German number one, unfortunately, had to play a final, an excruciatingly long one, especially: when Zverev returned to the court in Geneva to resume his rain-interrupted final, Thiem had long had dinner in the player's restaurant. With girlfriend Kristina Mladenovic. With whom he also lives this year, he knows enough hotels during the tennis year.
As always, Dominic Thiem could pray the entire 128 grid from top to bottom, knowing that Fernando Verdasco, Juan Martin del Potro and Novak Djokovic could wait on the way until the final Sunday. He is still going match after match, the first will be played against Tommy Paul on Monday. A premiere for Thiem, who registered that the American hit the ball quite often in the sweet spot on home sand.
Start guarantee for Dennis Novak
It is also known that the lone warrior Thiem has great team spirit. As in 2017 in Prague, he will also be at the Laver Cup in Geneva this year. The second edition in Chicago had left out Thiem. Finland, on the other hand, is worth a trip, but whether the premiere visit of Austria's number one will happen at the very same time that the Davis Cup relegation is due - that remains to be seen.
# BETATHOMEFOWIN #
However, there is no hesitation regarding the ATP Cup, which will be held for the first time in early 2020. The appointment before Melbourne is ideal, says Dominic Thiem, who then also nominated the teammate by his side: "I will play one hundred percent, of course with Dennis (Novak). It has a start guarantee due to our special relationship. "