5 reasons why Dominic Thiem is a future French Open winner
For Dominic Thiem, last week has been a roller coaster. He had the match of his career against Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal of the Rome Masters and then was absolutely clobbered by Novak Djokovic in the semi-final the very next day.
Coming off the back of two back-to-back losses against Nadal, it looked tough for him to overcome the Spaniard on the third try. However, the Austrian turned the tables in his encounter against the ‘King of Clay’ and through his incessant strokeplay and determination, beat him in straight sets.
The next match, however, was a reality check for the 23-year-old as Djokovic took him to the cleaners with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory. One day, Thiem was celebrating beating a beast like Nadal on clay, and the next day, he was struggling to send the ball across to the Serb. That’s how fine the line is in sport.
However, Thiem is an exceptional player. He might have lost big to Djokovic, but what he has shown in this tournament, as well as over the past couple of weeks, is that he is one of the bright lights of the future of tennis.
Here’s why he going to be a definitive Roland Garros champion in the coming years –
Best Grand Slam singles result
2016 was a special year for the Austrian. He made his debut in the ATP top 10 rankings, and reached his first Grand Slam semifinal. Incidentally, both of these things happened at the French Open. He beat players like Alexander Zverev, Marcel Granollers and David Goffin to become one of the last four men standing.
Unfortunately, he found himself against the eventual champion Djokovic in the semis, and he could not get the job done against the Serb. However, what is important to note is that Thiem had already played a total of 10 tournaments before coming into Roland Garros – a number most top players don’t touch until the latter stages of the season. Even then, he did not display fatigue of any kind as he went through one opponent after another.
Thiem is one of those players who are known to play the extra tournament, which keeps them alive in the race for London but can quickly result in exhaustion and weariness. However, Thiem manages his schedule perfectly and that was clearly visible in Paris last year.