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“I achieved one of my life goals by winning this Grand Slam tournament,” Thiem said. Even if he was denied the second great title, even his conqueror Daniil Medvedev praised Thiem’s tennis. “When Dominic plays like this, he is one of the best players in history, maybe not in terms of titles or Grand Slams, but when he plays like this,” said Medvedev, who is Thiem’s fourth first pursuer in the world rankings and is is getting closer to him. .
In addition to the great triumph at Flushing Meadows, Thiem also reached the Australian Open final and the ATP final at the O2 Arena. In addition, due to the special coronavirus rule, the final of the 2019 French Open at Roland Garros remains in the ranking. An attack on the first place seems to be possible for Lower Austria.
“I have not set any goals for next year yet, but of course I want to keep moving up the rankings. But everything is very tight: (Rafael) Nadal and (Novak) Djokovic are still there, (Roger) Federer will return next year ”, warned Thiem. With Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and, as of this year, Andrej Rublew, there are six or seven players who could fight for the top spots in the next few years.
Question mark behind the start of the season
The way it will continue is still in the stars throughout the scene. Because the particularly strict coronavirus policy in Australia could lead to some postponements, and the Australian Open could not start as planned on January 18. But given that the February tournaments in South America are very uncertain, there would be time.
Thiem will adapt the start of the preparation to this. “From now on, we can enter Australia on January 1 at the earliest. I also think it can still go backwards,” Thiem said. Normally, the ATP Cup should start in early January and include a two-week quarantine period before of that, the players would have to travel to Australia in mid-December.
Back to lockdown
Thiem flew home Monday from the “bubble” to another lockdown. “Normal life is not there, but I’m definitely looking forward to getting out, to have a little more sunshine and fresh air again.” Thiem didn’t want to complain about hard times. In tennis you have the privilege of being able to play events despite the pandemic.
“If there is no other way, it will have to continue like this, also at the beginning of next year. But I definitely don’t want to play in front of anyone for the next eight years. It will probably be much better to go back to playing in full stadiums, ”Thiem said. However, it was important to provide good entertainment for many fans who were out of work and who had real problems, “which allowed them to forget the difficult moments for two or three hours.”
Success for Austrian tennis
In any case, the ATP Finals were one of the most successful events for Austrian tennis. Having two ÖTV players in the top eight in singles and doubles was a huge success. However, having two finalists in a world sport was extraordinary, even if there was no happy ending in doubles for Thiem or Jürgen Melzer. In 2018 at Roland Garros, by the way, it was Thiem and Oliver Marach in doubles who were also in two finals. Both were also lost.
Accelerated changing of the guard
The year 2020 has also accelerated the progressive changing of the guard of superstars Nadal, Djokovic and Federer. Thiem has now become the second player after Andy Murray to win at least five times against all three. He, Medvedev, Zverev and company are ready for the future, not just after this trio has retired. “That is our challenge, that we play well in the big tournaments and that we become big stars,” Thiem said.
