Wolfgang Thiem - "Would make that decision again"
Austria lost 2-1 to Italy at the start of the ATP Cup 2021 in Melbourne. Dennis Novak got the only point against Fabio Fognini . Dominic Thiem lost both his singles and doubles together with Novak.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Feb 02, 2021, 02:35 pm
The start was made to measure, but in the end the Austrian team had to admit defeat to the Italians 1: 2. Dennis Novak opened Group C at the ATP Cup 2021 in Melbourne with a 6: 3 and 6: 2 against Fabio Fognini. A great assist for Dominic Thiem, who never found his rhythm in the 2: 6 and 4: 6 against Matteo Berrettinin. In doubles, all four individual players then met for a decisive comparison of strengths, which Fognini and Berrettini won with 6: 1 and 6: 4. The cast of this last match did not correspond to the original plan on both sides - but when things get tight, the gut feeling of the players and coaches sometimes has to serve.
In the case of Austria, this has just spoken out against the advised Philipp Oswald and Tristan-Samuel Weißborn, Thiem and Novak had also played together several times. And a few years ago in Kitzbühel even won the doubles on the racket. But as it is, Team Austria is under pressure on Thursday against France - and of course it depends on how Monfils and Co. fare against Italy in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Wolfgang Thiem - "Dominic has lost a bit of his serve"
Austria's team boss Wolfgang Thiem was very satisfied with Dennis Novak in cool conditions ("That's why Melbourne is the city with the four seasons that can all break out here in a single day"). And does not see any major problems for his son Dominic for the coming week if the Australian Open is held on the spot
Wolfgang Thiem opposite tennisnet.com ...
... on Dennis Novak's victory against Fabio Fognini:
"In my opinion, Dennis played a very good game. After the break in the first game, he fought well into the match. And especially in the second set, he really showed consistency. Because Fognini then fought to the end. I was happy when he then served it up. Because when Fognini shoots the longline winner at 40:15, memories of the Anderson game ( in Vienna, editor's note ) have surely come back. It was an important victory for him. "
... on Dominic Thiem's defeat against Matteo Berretini:
"Dominic was okay in the first few games, then lost a bit of his serve from 2: 3 in the first to 0: 3 in the second. Berrettini played very well, very powerfully, reacted well to various meeting points, to second serves returned extremely aggressively. He took Dominic the time to build up points. In the end it almost got tight again, but all in all it was already too thin. Berrettini's victory is okay. Dominic usually needs a few matches, to get in. I hope that it will be better against Monfils on Thursday. It's going well in training, now Dominic just has to carry it into the match. "
... on the decision to compete in doubles with Thiem / Novak:
"The five of us decided that, we came to the conclusion that the Ossi still needs a few days of training after the tough quarantine. We would make the decision that way again. Doubles always hang on one or two points. In the second Set it could easily have been 5: 2 for us. But all in all you have to honestly say that the Italians were better. Fognini has already won a Grand Slam tournament once. And Berrettini just played very well. "