Interview with Wolfgang Thiem - "That would be a win for Dominic"
Wolfgang Thiem is making his way to Australia with Sebastian Ofner and Dennis Novak this Thursday. Before that, the father of Austria's number one Dominic tennisnet gave an extensive interview.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Dec 19, 2019, 05:36 pm
tennisnet : Mr. Thiem. How did you prepare for Dominic in Florida?
Wolfgang Thiem : Dominic had the last day of preparation on Wednesday, on Thursday the plane went to Brisbane. The focus was on the condition for a week and a half, tennis a maximum of one and a half hours. There were some players there, Dominic played with Cristian Garin or Reilly Opelka. Unfortunately Moritz broke off, he caught a virus and had to come back. He is now flying with us to Australia. Marko Andrejic, the junior we support, is also there.
tennisnet : What was the focus?
Wolfgang Thiem : The training was super structured, a nice mixture of the training of Duglas with focus on speed and the tennis-specific part, and Dr. As a sports scientist, Reinprecht has laid the foundation for endurance again. You can't play that much tennis then. According to Dominic, the preparation was ideal. In Brisbane tennis training is announced from December 23rd.
tennisnet : In the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk about a possible collaboration with Thomas Muster. How do you rate this possibility?
Thiem : Thomas Muster comes to Australia on December 29th. If the chemistry is right, then you will definitely talk about working together. Nothing is fixed yet, wouldn't make sense either, because we don't know whether the two fit together. As in every respect, you have to wait and see. The ATP Cup is a good test phase. If it fits, you will surely have a few weeks to talk to Dominic. Because as a former number one and Grand Slam winner, Muster can certainly bring in a few details that are necessary for the very front. But the Nico will be the main coach, not an issue. If it works with Thomas Muster, I would be happy. And that would also be a win for the Dominic.
tennisnet : While your son was training in Florida, you looked after Dennis Novak and Sebastian Ofner in Südstadt. How did it go?
"Jurij Rodionov needs a touring coach"
Thiem : Ofner and Nowak had great preparation, both with their own fitness trainers. Ofi trains with Florian Pernhaupt, Dennis with Dominik Jessenk. I also tried to get Gebhart Gritsch for one or the other tip. He complied with the wish, helped Jessenk. That was awesome for Dennis because it brought him to a completely different level. But Gebhart is in a situation where he no longer wants to do it permanently, we respect that too. But if he gets involved every now and then, that's very good for Dennis. And we're flying to Australia together today. First the ATP Cup, then Sebastian and Dennis Quali play for the Australian Open.
tennisnet : It was read that you are now also taking care of Jurij Rodionov.
Thiem : The cooperation with Jurij actually came about because the ofner trains with the Bernhaupt condition. And Bernhaupt in turn has been training with the Jury for years. And he approached me if I could help him in any way. We tried it for two and a half weeks, which was a lot of fun. Jurij is a very talented, talented player with incredible strength. was one of the top ten in the world as a youth player, you have to be able to do something.
tennisnet : What did Jurij lack?
Thiem : He clearly lacks professional tennis support. In terms of condition, he is in a good position, and his brother also helps. We are now trying to make it better in tennis too. I am currently looking for a touring coach to accompany him to the tournaments. Right now Jurij needs someone with experience. We don't have many in Austria because Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya work with Novak and Ofner. A Thomas Strengberger is also not available. But I'll take a look around.
tennisnet : Why did Rodionov stagnate a bit in 2019?
Thiem : There is a huge difference between youth and men's tennis. Much easier in youth when you are physically very far, when I have the necessary understanding of the game. that was the case with Jurij. And now the point is that he works solidly and consistently. But I think it has incredible potential. It's almost impossible that he won't make it into the top 100 in the next year or two.
"I've never been confronted with game manipulation"
tennisnet : What about the youngsters behind Rodionov? As you can hear, there are two hopeful players.
Thiem : One is Lukas Neumayer. He understands the game quite well, is not yet physically ready. But has a good environment with the support of parents. Lukas recently went to a trial training session in the southern part of the city. He has to develop physically, become more aggressive, play faster, develop weapons. Andrejic is with me, we have been supporting him for two or three years. Physically it's quite far, but it has to be even more constant. Has huge potential, great understanding of the game, that's why we also promote it. Has now played Finale Eddie Herr U16, which is a good sign for me. Because all the Americans are involved. I can remember when I was with Dominic at Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl when Dennis played the semi-finals, and there are also a lot of players who are still on the ATP tour today. Andrejic should now be so far in the ITF youth ranking that he can play Australian Open qualifiers. He still has two full years of youth ahead of him, the goal, of course, is to get into the main fields of the Junior Grand Slams.
tennisnet : A big topic in the last few days: game manipulation at futures level. What experience have you had?
Thiem : The players I look after have never been confronted with anything like this. Maybe also because we don't broadcast something like that. We act in such a way that we do not appear receptive. I have never been offered drugs in my life because I was never interested. For Dominic, who is so far ahead, that's not an issue anyway, because they make so much money. But I partly understand that something like this can happen with futures. If someone basically fights for every cent, wins a future, and then goes home with a minus or at least with a zero, it can happen that you jump on something like that. I am of course an opponent of it because it distorts the sport. But I also understand that someone can tip over there. For challengers and futures, the prize money simply has to be raised so that players don't think about it.