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There, the world number three could face three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland. Initially, the 27-year-old focuses entirely on Casper Ruud, the son of ex-Top 40 Christian Ruud.
With his first ATP title in Buenos Aires, the final in Santiago de Chile and more recently the semifinals in Rome and Hamburg, the son is already ahead in the family duel. Casper Ruud is now 25th in the ATP rankings, at the beginning of the year he was still 54th.
Dominic Thiem in Paris against Casper Ruud
At the French Open in Paris, Dominic Thiem is in the round of 32 without dropping a set. On Friday, the US Open winner will face up-and-coming Norwegian Casper Ruud.
Close victory in the only duel
“It will be a tough match again,” Thiem said, recalling his only test of strength so far at his own exhibition tournament in Kitzbühel in July. “In ‘Thiems 7’ it was a good match against him,” said Lichtenwörther, who won 7: 5 7: 6 (7/4).
Ruud’s most recent intensive travel activity with the US Open, Rome, Hamburg and now Paris and the many matches could have cost Norway strength too. “Maybe he’s a little tired already,” Thiem said. He himself currently does not feel tired, he feels good physically. “At some point I’ll be ‘super tired.’ But I think all the tension and focus at Roland Garros hides that fatigue. I hope I can take that as far as possible. “
Changing conditions in Paris
Conditions in autumnal Paris change and much depends on the temperatures. In his second round match against Jack Sock (USA), the balls flew much faster because they measured about seven degrees higher than their initial success against Marin Cilic (CRO). “But that may be different again in the next few days when it gets colder.” In any case, after the “indoor game” against Cilic, he has now also shown his form in the open air.
Djokovic-style playoffs
Thiem has also shown once again that he has had good nerves recently in the playoffs. Overall, he is now 12: 6 in 2020. Unforgettable 7: 6 in the fifth set of the US Open final against Alexander Zverev, before that he had won the other four tiebreaks in New York.
“I copied a bit of Nole (Djokovic, note), because he is always there in the tie-breaks, he plays a lot of returns and he just tries to get the ball in the field so that the opponent cannot do anything. “Thiem tried to take this as a model. “That worked quite well in the last few tournaments.”
