"French Open was the absolute low point" - Dominic Thiem on facing early criticism on comeback trail
Dominic Thiem is starting to look a lot like his best self on tour as he continues on the comeback trail. Before all the praise of late, Thiem faced a lot of criticism after he had just returned on tour, owing to a string of early losses where he was often dominated by opponents. The Austrian star recently said that he understands his critics, particularly because of his French Open performance.
Thiem called his 2022 French Open performance "horrible" and stated that it was one of the lowest points of his career and the lowest of his comeback. Thiem lost six consecutive matches on tour before Roland Garros, before losing his seventh with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 loss against Hugo Dellien in the first round in Paris.
Speaking on the sidelines of this week's Vienna Open, his home ATP tournament, Thiem reflected on his comeback and the French Open debacle.
"The French Open was the absolute low point, where I can understand all the critics. It was horrible how I played there," Dominic Thiem said during an interview with the tournament media.
Thiem admitted that he was low on confidence heading into the French Open because of the results leading up to the tournament. The 2020 US Open champion said that he knew he "can't win a set" against top players.
"I had my doubts, because before that there were a few months of full training. I saw in training that I'm far away and I can't win a set against the good guys," the Austrian added.
However, Thiem did not take long before getting back into the groove and revealed that a long training schedule in Paris helped him immensely.
"The long training block after Paris was important. That's when it clicked, where I noticed that it feels better now, a bit like it used to," Thiem continued.
Dominic Thiem believes his Swedish Open run was a massive turnaround
Dominic Thiem won his first tour-level match this season at the Swedish Open in Bastad, before reaching his first quarterfinal since his comeback at the same tournament.
Thiem feels that his performance in Bastad turned things around and gave him the confidence that he could beat top players again. He has been moving in a positive direction ever since.
"The first win on the tour in Bastad and then the first quarterfinals were extremely important. That's when I saw that I can win against better players again. From then on it went in the right direction again most of the time," Thiem expressed.
The Austrian has reached multiple semifinals on tour since the Swedish Open, at the Swiss Open, Gijon Open, and last week's European Open. He is constantly inching closer to the Top 100 after starting his comeback from outside the Top 350 in the ATP rankings.
Thiem will begin his Vienna Open campaign against Tommy Paul on Tuesday and could face Daniil Medvedev in the Round of 16.