French Open: Dominic Thiem - victory with the last drop of fuel
Dominic Thiem reached the quarter-finals of the French Open 2020 with an act of violence. Now it's against his good buddy Diego Schwartzman .
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 04, 2020, 09:59 pm
Gil Reyes, the great friend, mentor, but also and above all fitness coach of Andre Agassi, used to give his protégé something to drink before a difficult match, which Agassi called “Gil Water” in his biography “Open”. What exactly was in there is not explained further. But it mostly helped.
Dominic Thiem will also need something like Gil Water before his quarter-final game against Diego Schwartzman, let's see what physio Alex Stober has with him in Paris. In any case, the five-set success against Hugo Gaston left its mark - or was it the traces of the efforts at the US Open that Dominic Thiem knew would show up sooner or later? "I certainly don't have a full tank," said Thiem about an hour after making it into the quarter-finals.
The 20-year-old Frenchman's cheeky, unorthodox way of playing brought Thiem into serious trouble from the end of the third movement. Gaston either offered the variant of slow, high spinball - or the stop, with which Thiem knew what to do with little or nothing. In addition, when Gaston started the tournament as number 239, it seemed to get faster and faster as the match continued. No trace of aftermath from the five-set match against Stan Wawrinka.
"He played a great match," Thiem paid his opponent once again to respect at his press conference.
Thiem refuses to lose
Wawrinka, however, had given up on herself at some point in the fifth sentence. And that was the big difference to Dominic Thiem, who simply refused to lose. That Thiem served up front in the decision may have helped. At the most important moment, the US Open Champion was there, including the inside-out forehand, which brought him match point number one (awarded) and number two (successful).
So now Schwartzman. The Argentine used next to no energy against Lorenzo Sonego and brought a win against Rafael Nadal in Rome to Paris as a recommendation. Thiem and Schwartzman have known each other well for many years, and they can be classified as buddies without any restrictions. Thiem said he was looking forward to meeting one of his best friends on the tour in the quarter-finals.
Diego Schwartzman also has the neat drop shot in his arsenal, but it is doubtful that he uses it 53 times. Like Gaston, the Argentine will also whisper across the court until the last ball is actually played. He always treats himself to an energy shot and a can of Red Bull, Thiem finally says. Even at the risk of it taking off. But the most important thing, according to Thiem and his Physio Stober, is the food. Fortunately, he was twice supplied by the best Italian outside Italy. Gil Water can't keep up with that either.
Here is the single tableau at the French Open
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