Laver Cup: Dominic Thiem after opening win - "It was amazing!"
Dominic Thiem not only secured a point for Team Europe with his opening win - he also earned self-confidence.
by Florian Goosmann from Geneva
last edit: Sep 20, 2019, 07:54 pm
It was a "very special situation" to open the Laver Cup, Thiem enthused after his dramatic opening win over Denis Shapovalov. "I have never heard anything louder in my life than when Roger entered the field," said the 26-year-old about the team presentation before his match - and the applause for the Swiss Meaestro at his home game in Geneva.
He and Shapovalov were not quite up to their game, "but the match was exciting because it was very close all the time," said Thiem. Of course, the win was important for the team, as he pointed out, "but also for myself, that was good for my confidence. I've played badly lately. But it is getting better."
Thiem wants to get fit for Shanghai and Vienna
Thiem went on to say that he was "fully healthy again", "that's the most important thing" - even if he is not yet 100 percent tennis. The performance against the Canadian was better than at the Davis Cup or during the training week in Geneva, "I fought well, had good body language, but will definitely need some time to reach the top level playfully." The goal for this, according to Thiem, is the Masters tournament in Shanghai and the home game in Vienna.
When it got tight, there was also little help from his top-class coaches: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Nadal advised him to take some time before the match tie-break - Federer asked him to ask the linesman to move a little further back. Because even if there was almost ten meters of spout behind the baseline, the linesman Thiem got in the way several times on the backhand return. "At one point at 10:10, they bothered me. If there had been a second serve, I should have told them, "said the Lichtenwörther.
The goal is plastic-free tennis tour
In addition to the start of the Laver Cup, there was a big topic off the court on Friday - the global climate strike. Another topic for Thiem, who has been working with colleague Kevin Anderson for a plastic-free tour for a long time? "It has gotten a lot better on the tennis tour since the topic came up a year and a half ago," said Thiem about environmental protection in tennis. "Most stringers no longer use plastic bags, Wimbledon was also quite plastic-free. Coffee was only available from paper cups, the whole straws change, the disposable plastic is disappearing more and more. I hope that in the future we will have a completely plastic-free tour."
And that doesn't seem to be rocket science: "It would work if you put a large container of water on the square and glass bottles or metal bottles." In the end, there are still a lot of things to improve, Thiem concluded, "I think we're on the right track."
This also applies to his tennis.