Dominic Thiem appoints Andy Murray's former fitness trainer Jez Green as new physical conditioning coach
According to Heute, Dominic Thiem has appointed Jez Green as his new physical conditioning coach. Green previously worked with World No. 5 Alexander Zverev and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray.
Green only recently parted ways with Zverev for undisclosed reasons, and Dominic Thiem has since roped him into his own team with the help of his management agency Kosmos.
Green's addition to Thiem's team comes at a great time for the Austrian. The Brit is known to be a hard taskmaster and could be the right man to guide the 27-year-old back to top physical shape as he continues his recovery from a wrist injury.
The defending US Open champion suffered a wrist injury during the Mallorca Championships in June and has not competed on the tour since.
In fact, Thiem's participation at the US Open is also in doubt. The Austrian was unable to train in July and was forced to opt out of the National Bank Open as well as the Cincinnati Masters, meaning he is unlikely to play a tune-up event ahead of the American Slam.
Dominic Thiem has always been regarded as one of the fittest players on tour. But following such a long absence from the court, he will need to put in the hard yards to get back into shape, and that is where Jez Green will play a pivotal role.
Green has excellent pedigree as a physical trainer. He worked with Andy Murray for nine years and with Zverev for six. The Brit has also worked with Tomas Berdych as well as the United States Tennis Association.
Jez Green will push Dominic Thiem to the limit
Alexander Zverev was not the fittest of players early on, but he now finds himself in better shape than almost everyone on the men's tour. Green's strict fitness regimen is one of the reasons behind Zverev's improved physical conditioning.
According to reports, Green made Zverev do multiple 400-meter dashes with a gap of just 75 seconds between each iteration. The German initially managed to complete six such dashes before getting gassed, but improved to 10 with time.
This exercise is reportedly one of Green's favorites, and he is likely to use it with Dominic Thiem as well.
Jez Green set to take over physical training duties from Mike Reinprecht
So far, Mike Reinprecht has taken responsibility for Dominic Thiem's physical training activities. Reinprecht was brought into the team by Thiem's former coach Gunter Bresnik.
Reports suggest that Jez Green will completely take over from Reinprecht, with the latter taking on a different role. But Reinprecht asserted that splitting of activities would only take place after a thorough discussion amongst all parties.
"We (Dominic Thiem's coaching team) will discuss the distribution of roles in the next few days," Mike Reinprecht said. "It is important that everyone pulls together and a winning team is created again."
It remains to be seen if Duglas Cordero, another of Thiem's fitness coaches, will also be replaced.