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Reaching the final of the Australian Open this past February confirmed the great progress of Dominic Thiems under Massu’s leadership. The current world number three came close to his first Grand Slam win and only surrendered to a flawless Novak Djokovic.
Thiem was one of the main players in this tennis reboot, hoping to improve his performance at the US Open after a bad moment from the Western & Southern Open last week.
Dominic Thiem, the trip to New York and the restart of tennis
During the virtual press conference on Zoom on Friday, the Austrian spoke about the absence of the public and the new conditions that tennis players have to adapt to.
“The tennis is one sport molto mental, I imagine that the assenza of the public renda tutto più difficile”, has said Thiem. “I imagine I play the fifth set with Arthur Ashe in the afternoon, long after midnight, and in a normal year the fans still give you a lot of energy.
They give you a lot in addition to the atmosphere that is created. Now, in an empty stadium where only your coach is present, everything becomes much more lonely and complicated. It will be very interesting to try, but that goes for everyone.
The one who best copes with these particular circumstances will be the one who wins the trophy at the end of the tournament. “Thiem was one of the busiest tennis players in exhibition tournaments in Europe, so he was able to keep fit and travel several times.
“To be honest, I was zero percent nervous when I got here. I think we are safer than anywhere else on the planet. Is different. Whoever wins the title here has certainly won it, and from the perspective of the players or the scoreboard, the same thing happens every year.
The main draw, however, is super strong. Tennis after the long break? You have to play your cards wisely. The route until the end of the season will undoubtedly be very demanding. Nor will it be easy to define a good schedule and play all these tournaments 100% mentally and physically. I will try to do my best now. ”
