Thomas Muster: "Dominic Thiem is not a favorite in the Australian Open"
Shortly before Dominic Thiem starts the Australian Open on Tuesday, the standard asked the new man in the box of the Austrian, Thomas Muster , for an interview. The 1995 French Open winner about the chances of the Lichtenwörther down under, the big three and the reasons why he toured the world with Dominic Thiem for twenty weeks this year.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jan 18, 2020, 08:17 pm
Thomas Muster was probably the last one to reproach himself after the Austrians bitterly dropped out of the ATP Cup. The Styrian felt like he played every rally, cheered on his proteges tirelessly and was at least involved in Dennis Novak's incredible comeback against Guido Pella with his toilet speech. It was therefore all the more gratifying that Dominic Thiem and the Styrian announced immediately after losing to Poland in the last group game that Thomas Muster would go on tour with the 26-year-old for 20 weeks this season. "I want to make Dominic Thiem a better player than I have ever been," said Muster at the time.
Three days before Dominic Thiem against Adrian Mannarino (the game can be seen live on ServusTV) will start in the first Grand Slam of the year , the standard asked Thomas Muster for an interview. As the goal for the Australian Open, the former number one in the world has entered the quarter-finals. If Dominic Thiem improves in every game and everything else fits, there is definitely a lot possible: "Dominic Thiem is not a favorite in the Australian Open." In addition to the big three, Muster also sees Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev as the biggest title aspirants. Dominic Thiem could meet one of Muster's favorites - Rafael Nadal - for the first time in the quarterfinals, and Daniil Medvedev would probably wait in a possible semi-final.
Thomas Muster: "Everything is there, but nothing perfect"
When asked what was still missing from Dominic Thiem for the really great champion, Muster showed himself covered: "I will never discuss this publicly, I will discuss it internally." With Thiem everything is there, but nothing is perfect: "You can and must turn every screw. ”Especially after the victory in Vienna, Dominic Thiem had made a significant improvement, and the 26-year-old had also seen an increase in performance in the past four weeks. "The rest will come," is a sure pattern.
Muster has already received many offers to work as a coach or supervisor for a wide variety of players, but he has all declined. Dominic Thiem is different now and Muster also finds clear words, why: "If I have the chance to help an Austrian so that he might win a Grand Slam, maybe become number one, that's a reason. I see Dominic as a player who can do much better than I have ever been. ”But you shouldn't expect miracles from this partnership, because you now have to inject things, put them in the right direction - and the other players finally work just as hard.
Dominic Thiem is absolutely willing to learn
Especially for the attitude of the Austrian, Thomas Muster found consistently praising words: "I have never heard of him" Well "," That doesn't work "," I don't want to ". He has the absolute willingness to learn to improve. "Dominic Thiem is training hard in Melbourne, too. On Saturday there was a session with Rafael Nadal - for which the Mallorcan only found positive words:" Great training day with my friend Dominic Thiem and good teams around us ”, was read on the Instagram profile of the world number one.
Rafael Nadal is also a member of the triumvirate that has dominated tennis like no other in recent years. However, Thomas Muster is convinced that this dominance will have an expiry date that will soon be over. He believes that we will see a new Grand Slam winner this year. Thomas Muster thinks it is possible to name this Dominic Thiem: "But there could also be five others." Because there is also a lot of pressure from below. It will be seen in just over two weeks whether a first changing of the guard will also begin at the major level - and what better start to the partnership between Dominic Thiem and Thomas Muster than a triumph in the first joint Grand Slam?
All games by Dominic Thiem, Dennis Novak and selected top games can be seen live on free TV on ServusTV.
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