[ad_1]
The final defeat in London will not worry Dominic Thiem. The Austrian tennis star knows the process of winning.
Dominic Thiem was never a child prodigy, always more hardworking than super talented. His longtime coach, Günter Bresnik, once said that Thiem is a player who “never does anything the first time” but needs time, possibly more than others.
The development of the now 27-year-old confirms this impression. It has always been linear, never erratic. Before winning his first ATP title in Nice in 2015, he lost a final (Kitzbühel 2014). It was no different in the Grand Slam finals. Thiem’s dreams exploded in Paris (2018 and 2019 against Nadal) and Melbourne (2020 against Djokovic) before they came true a few weeks ago in New York.
The Austrian tennis star also lost the first match against the “big three” Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. He is now the only player alongside Andy Murray who was able to win at least five games against all three.
On Sunday night, Thiem lost the final of the ATP Finals, the highly decorated end-of-season tournament of the eight best players in the world, for the second time in a row. Does this defeat hurt? Yes. Should Thiem be concerned, make him doubt his qualities? Definitely not. Defeat is part of this game and Thiem will learn from it too. And possibly win the ATP Finals next time.
