Thiem and Novak off the weighted average
Last day of the group phase at Thiem's 7 in Kitzbühel - the two hosts Dominic Thiem and Dennis Novak can test again what the changes in their bodies have brought.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jul 09, 2020, 07:34 am
By Jens Huiber from Kitzbühel
Not so much older sports fans will remember it: It was a little more than two years ago that Elina Svitolina (according to her own information) decided to simply lose weight to see if it did her game good it not). Bryson Dechambeau did it the other way around, gaining 20 kilograms of muscle mass in no time. Here too the relevant note: according to the US golfer's own information. Especially since such rapid growth in enlightened countries creates a shaken level of doubt. But well, another construction site.
Anyway, Dennis Novak has taken the path of Elina Svitolina and found the exit in time. That may be due to his healthy body feeling. But also to Gebhard Gritsch, who has already made Novak Djokovic possibly the fittest player on the ATP tour (tender objection from Mr. Thiem, Monfils, Wawrinka), but certainly the most flexible one (Monfils objection rejected). There is still nothing to complain about in terms of the overall condition of the world number one, so Novak has to be at the bottom in terms of athletic top position, but has nevertheless shortened the distance to Djokovic.
Dominic Thiem followed DeChambeau, but like buddy Novak got on the brakes in time. He expects more stability from the new splendor on the upper body, says Thiem. That could work, and the favorite never got out of balance in the match against Andrey Rublev, which Thiem won 7-5 and 6-4. Dennis Novak, on the other hand, by no means misses his four kilograms of body weight since spring, he moves almost feather-light through the numerous games that he has completed a very, very long time since the start of the Generali Austrian Pro Series.
Khachanov and Bautista Agut without practice
These are the first world problems that the two best Austrian tennis players were able to solve. Karen Khachanov and Roberto Bautista Agut could report otherwise. The Russian arrived from Moscow on Monday, more or less untrained in tennis. Bautista Agut didn't hit many balls before his trip to Kitzbühel, the corona situation in Spain is just as relaxed as that in Russia.
How relaxed she is in Austria will show in the next few days. The health inspectors were guests at Thiem's 7 on Wednesday, there were no complaints as of early evening. All participants in the tournament adhere to the friendly mask proposal, the spectators more or less keep the safety distance. What was not quite as difficult in the afternoon session as it was with Thiem's evening party: The very sporty admission prices probably prevented some visitors from visiting.
Thiem against Struff on Thursday
This Thursday, Khachanov will be giving his farewell performance again. Matteo Berrettini can bread the current number 15 in the world rankings as he likes, it will no longer be enough for the semi-finals. The vacant space for this is played out by Novak and Bautista Agut, when considering the other participants in Kitzbühel the two lightweights in the field. Except, of course, Andrey Rublev, who plays in his own weight class. And held up against the local favorite on Wednesday evening.
Dominic Thiem can also play again, this time against Jan-Lennard Struff. The Warsteiner is a late worker for Kitzbühel as well as for the coming week in Berlin, where Thiem will be spared a verbal purgatory between Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev. The two have canceled for different reasons, Struff against - so there is the first part of the trilogy Asche-Rasen-Hart between the Austrian top man and the German crown prince.
By the way, Struff does not seem to have decided where the truth lies for him: he has kept his fighting weight with which he represented Germany at the Davis Cup final tournament in 2019 or at the beginning of 2020 at the ATP Cup. So maybe in the middle.