Nicolas Massu on Dominic Thiem: "Always has the chance to win when he plays a tournament"
Nicolas Massu,Dominic Thiem's touring coach for over a year, spoke to the ATP about his protégé and how he handled the interruption of the tour.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Aug 16, 2020, 03:56 pm
Dominic Thiem has landed in New York City. The Austrian let his fans know via Instagram that he had just arrived in the metropolis. Thiem still has six days left to prepare for the Western & Southern Open on the one hand, and to adjust to the conditions in the USA, above all the "bubble", on the other.
Because when it really starts with the ATP Masters 1000 event and the US Open a week later, the expectations are high for the Lower Austrian, the performances at the Australian Open and also at the numerous exhibition events left Thiem together Novak Djokovic rise to the top favorite in Flushing Meadows. His touring coach, Nicolas Massu, knows that too, as he emphasized in an interview with the ATP: "He's one of those players who always have the chance to win when they take part in a tournament."
The fact is that Dominic Thiem will go into the tournament as number two, after the cancellations of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, he has the historic opportunity to win a Grand Slam title with just one win over one of the "Big Three". It is also a fact that the Austrian recently presented himself in excellent shape, with almost three kilos of muscle gain, he is a bit fitter than he already was before.
Thiem in great shape
"He plays well, looks strong and is really focused. He is even more motivated now because he is used to a full calendar with many tournaments in a normal season," said Massu, assessing his protégé, with whom he was after a two-week break after the Exhibition events in Berlin has been working together again for a week. The two now have another week before they can start again with competitive tennis after a break of almost six months.
A break that has never been seen in Dominic Thiem's entire career. Of course, this was a damper for the ambitious Austrian, but this situation also revealed a great opportunity, as Massu emphasizes: "We worked a lot on the physical component. Usually the pre-season only lasts three or four weeks at the most, but now we had almost six months to concentrate on that and on tennis. "
So it should work again for a long time at the US Open with a good result for Dominic Thiem. As is well known, last year was already the end of round one, when Dominic Thiem had to fight Thomas Fabbiano with his fitness. Coach Massu justifies the fact that it will be better this year with the results and performance of the last few months.
Thiem: Grand Slam victory greatest goal
"He's been doing a lot of things for the first time lately. He never made it through the fourth round of the Australian Open and was one set away from winning the title this year. He reached the Nitto ATP final last year after he never got through the round robin phase. His results in Asia were never that good either, but then he won Beijing and reached the quarter-finals in Shanghai, "said the Chilean of Thiems' successful weeks, which he last made the jump in the top three of the world rankings.
Now Thiem could make up a lot of ground there, too, the Austrian only has ten points in both tournaments and could add almost 3000 points to his account with two wins. The very big goal, and Thiem does not tire of emphasizing that, remains the first victory in a Grand Slam . Massu and a number of experts agree that a goal that could already be achieved in New York City.