Thiem predicts a “super cool game” in the US Open semifinals



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After his sovereign entry into the US Open semifinals, Dominic Thiem is already looking towards the next challenge. In the fight for a place in the final, a real touchstone awaits Lower Austria on Friday (10 pm on the LIVE ticker and on ServusTV) with Daniil Medvedev.

The three-seeded Russian, who reached the final at Flushing Meadows last year, “plays really well and plays at his highest level for the duration of the game,” explains Thiem.

Medvedev doesn’t have big fluctuations in performance. “He almost beat Nadal after 0-2 sets in the final last year,” recalls Thiem. But he himself also delivered one of his best quarter-final matches to the Spanish superstar two years ago in the US Open quarter-finals. “The same thing happens to me, of course I can play four or five hours at the highest level. My job will be to summon exactly that and, if that happens, it will surely be a great match,” predicts Thiem.

Thiem: “That is my job”

In any case, it should be much better than the previous two duels with the Russian. Thiem leads the head-to-head 2-1, but the final victory in Barcelona (6: 4, 6: 0) and the quarter-final defeat in Canada (3: 6, 1: 6), both from the previous year, serving. not for reference.

“In Barcelona I was completely lost in the final and escaped, in Montreal I was not present, so I came from Kitzbühel at that time,” recalls the third in the world ranking. “On Friday, if someone does not get sick, it will be very different. We both play well and I think we both already are, with Sascha (Zverev) and (Stefanos) Tsitsipas, the closest to the big three. What is our level but also playing this level for a long time in a Grand Slam match. I hope I can do that, that’s my job. Play well, without big holes. “

He was also successful against De Minaur in hitting 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 4, with the exception of a short knockdown in the third set. “I kept telling myself that I had to be careful and be on my guard. In the third set it got very tight again. If I lose the set, everything looks very different.”

Thiem was as pleased with his combination of offense and defense as he was with his part. “It will also be important for the next game that he gives Medvedev different meeting points, because at a certain point he doesn’t make mistakes, especially on the backhand.”

Medvedev: “Dominic is a tough opponent”

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Medvedev received a shoulder treatment at the end of his game against Andrej Rublev (RUS-10). “My shoulder started to hurt a bit,” said the Russian, who has not lost a single set in the current tournament. The success of 7: 6, 6: 3, 7: 6 over his compatriot physically challenged him, Medvedev also admitted that he had “a bit of cramps”.

The fifth in the world rankings had to correct himself a bit against his opponent Thiem. “Dominic is a tough opponent, especially on clay, of course. I felt it in the final in Barcelona last year. It’s a little easier on a hard court, but if I say easier: he was in the final of the Australian Open. it’s easier on hard courts than on sand. “

And on the hard court at Flushing Meadows, Thiem also became the first Austrian in the semi-finals. Thomas Muster was eliminated in the quarterfinals in 1993, 1994 and 1996, on the first attempt he had awarded two match points against Alexander Volkov (RUS).

The fact that he is the first red-and-white player in the bottom four doesn’t mean anything to Thiem. “I don’t really care. I’m happy to be in the semi-finals for the first time. I also hope for all of tennis in Austria not to be the last to achieve it. It’s a nice side note, but not anymore, it’s nice to read, but not. It will help me in the semi-finals, “explains Thiem.

Thiem got used to a mental challenge without fans

Thiem also has to do without the support of his fans in the stadium. The special circumstances at this year’s US Open due to the crown crisis also pose a mental challenge for players.

“It’s not easy for you to always stay mentally at 100 percent energy. I’ve gotten used to everything else, to all the circumstances of this situation,” Thiem explains after their semi-finals.

Overall, it’s great that you can play the tournament. “But there are a couple of situations in every game where it would be nice to have the fans to keep up the energy, to celebrate big points, or it doesn’t feel so bad when you’re going through a bad phase. That’s it. there are fans in the stadium. ” It is a unique situation. “Now I’m in the semi-finals, it was my fifth game, so I’m used to it.”

Perhaps you think that contact with your own player team, in New York this year only with coach Nicolas Massu, physio Alex Stober and friend Lucas Leitner, is even more important. According to Thiem, this is not the case. “Contact is always equally important because they always get me out of difficult situations.”

The idea that millions are cheering in front of televisions helps, Thiem says when asked by APA. “It looks better on television than when you play it yourself, because tennis is a very compatible sport with television and that motivates you.” Especially in situations where you would need a hearing. “The idea that a lot of people around the world are watching in front of televisions can be helpful.”

Daily training isn’t that easy to handle mentally either. The number of players is drastically reduced at the end of this great tournament. “In a normal Grand Slam tournament it doesn’t really stand out, because although all the places are free at the end of the second week, the facility is full of people because there are forty or fifty thousand spectators running. But now it is much, much emptier At the beginning there were almost 300 players, now almost none. Luckily the wheelchair players came, who encouraged the installation a bit and it is nice to see them. Otherwise it is really empty and definitely different than any other Grand Slam tournament I’ve played so far. “

So there is an eerie atmosphere in Flushing Meadows, which normally draws three-quarters of a million fans in the two weeks of the tournament. And especially “spooky” if you just played the night session, in the largest but empty tennis stadium in the world.



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Text as: © LAOLA1.at/APA

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