Thiem coach Nicolas Massu: "Different cultures, but the same passion"
Nicolas Massu is nominated for the title of "Coach of the Year" on the ATP Tour. Like all other candidates, Massu also gave information about the relationship with his protégé Dominic Thiem .
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 17, 2020, 10:56 am
Soon it will be two years in which Nicolas Massu worked as Dominic Thiem's coach. The Chilean Olympic champion in 2004 in singles and doubles joined Team Thiem in Buenos Aires at the beginning of 2019, at that time still brought on board by Günter Bresnik as a possible tour coach for the Austrian number one. A few weeks later, Massu suddenly had the scepter in his own hand. And at the end of 2020 it can look back on an impressive record. During his tenure, Thiem won his first ATP Masters 1000 tournament with Indian Wells, was in the final of the ATP Finals twice, as well as the Australian Open in 2020 and the French Open in 2019. And a few weeks ago at the US Open, he won one of the four majors for the first time.
No wonder that Massu 2020 is one of the candidates for the title "Coach of the Year" on the ATP Tour. In addition to Gilles Cervara, who looks after Daniil Medvedev , Juan Ignacio Chela, the coach of Diego Schwartzman , old master Riccardo Piatti, who steers Jannik Sinner's career, and Fernando Vicente, who coached Andrey Rublev on five titles in the shortened 2020 season. The group of colleagues decides who receives the award.
Massu can pass a lot on to Thiem
The ATP has now asked the five nominees a few specific questions - and Nicolas Massu has highlighted two things in his collaboration with Dominic Thiem. “I only stopped playing tennis seven years ago, that wasn't long ago. So I believe that I can pass on to Dominic a lot of things that I have experienced myself as a tennis player. And on a personal level we get to know each other better and better and we create more trust in one another every day. "
Nicolas Massu even sees the fact that he and his protégé have completely different biographies as an advantage. “We come from different cultures. I'm South American, he's European. But I think that makes us stronger. Because we have different personalities, but we share the passion to give our best every day. In addition, our age difference is not too great. That helps us to develop good energy on and off the tennis court. "