French Open: Dominic Thiem vs. Gael Monfils - premiere after four matches
Dominic Thiem knows his opponent in the round of 16 pretty well at the French Open. Nevertheless, the Austrian expects a new situation against Gael Monfils on Monday.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 02, 2019, 01:01 pm
By Jens Huiber from Paris
The rather abrupt end of Dominic Thiem's press conference after his match against Pablo Cuevas shouldn't make you forget that Thiem said some interesting things in the golden minutes before. Primarily to his upcoming opponent Gael Monfils. The two played against each other four times, all games went to Thiem. However, neither of them, according to the 25-year-old Lichtenwörther, would have worked at the level of their creativity. In Umag 2016, Monfils would have been in no mood, at the ATP final in 2016 the Frenchman was slightly injured. And he wouldn't have been in shape in Buenos Aires 2018.
Only the encounter in Indian Wells 2017 would have a certain informative value. At that time Thiem won 6: 3 and 6: 2.
Also noteworthy: Monfil's match against Thiem could not take place three times because one of the two players could not compete due to illness or injury.
Thiem also trains on Sundays
This can be ruled out 99.9 percent for Monday. Monfils would probably start an attempt in the leg in plaster, Thiem looked fresh in the fourth set against Cuevas, as if he could add two or three hours of competition on the court. No wonder the Austrian was back on the training ground on Sunday. In contrast to the German Jan-Lennard Struff, who will limit himself to regenerative measures in the gym after his five-sentence thriller against Borna Coric.
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Well, well: Struff also has an even more difficult task in front of his chest with Novak Djokovic than Thiem, who could only meet the industry leader in the preliminary round. And according to the course of the men's tournament so far, it cannot be ruled out that this will happen: The ten top seeded players made it into the fourth round, in contrast to the women, where numbers one (Naomi Osaka), two ( Karolina Pliskova) or four (Kiki Bertens) are no longer there. Not to mention Angelique Kerber and Elina Svitolina.
Not as bad as against del Potro
With the latter, however, it cannot be ruled out that on Monday she will take a close look at the sporting exchange between Dominic Thiem and Gael Monfils: As is well known, Svitolina plays with the French through the tennis world. Dominic Thiem counters with Kristina Mladenovic in this regard, which has also given him a place in the hearts of French fans.
But, and Thiem liked to repeat himself in his press conference, he also coped very well with a full stadium that was set against him. It won't be as bad as at the US Open 2017 against Juan Martin del Potro. His possible quarter-final opponent in Paris 2019.