At the Zenit – triumph in New York, Thiem lifts into a new league

With the first Grand Slam triumph of an Austrian on hard court and the second major victory after Thomas Muster (French Open 1995), the 27-year-old model athlete has played himself into new dimensions. Thiem has cemented his top 3 place for the time being.

His career prize money alone speaks volumes: Thiem clearly exceeded the 25 million US dollar mark with the 3 million dollar check (2.53 million euros) after the dramatic five-set victory over Alexander Zverev (GER) , now holds at $ 26.917 million. In his fourth major final or fifth very big final (including the ATP finals last November), Thiem made the final breakthrough to become a world star from Lichtenwörth.

More and more on hard court

There have been hardly any doubts about Thiem’s ​​career recently, now the last ones have fallen silent. The leap in performance that Thiem, long known as a clay court specialist, made on hard court in 2019 alone is striking: of five tournaments he won in 2019, he brought three on hard court.

Thiem had already indicated in Indian Wells (first victory at Masters 1000 level) with the final victory over Roger Federer (SUI) that he was ready for the next step. In addition, he finally achieved his breakthrough in front of his own audience in 2019: titles in Kitzbühel and Vienna: no Austrian had achieved that before, especially not in the same year.

After his most successful year to date, Thiem brought Thomas Muster on board as a consultant for 20 weeks at the beginning of 2020 with the help of his manager Herwig Straka. However, this “experiment” went wrong – and Thiem took a considerable step: Because the characters Muster and Thiem did not harmonize as well as the youngster had imagined, he separated from the Styrian after the second round during the Australian Open. And then only lost in the final in Melbourne after a 2-1 set lead against Novak Djokovic.

Advance laurels lived up to

Dominic Thiem has lived up to all the advance laurels that he received as a teenager. He laid the foundation for this with his long-term coach, mentor and manager Günter Bresnik from the age of eight. Thiem’s ​​parents Wolfgang and Karin are not only tennis teachers themselves, they also gave Bresnik their unconditional trust at an early age. Bresnik shaped the rough diamond Thiem, who had already dominated the youth scene in the early days, into a sporty gem, whose aesthetic style of play has brought him many fans around the world.

It wasn’t always easy for Thiem: Especially when Bresnik broke the two-handed backhand of twelve-year-old Thiem. Bresnik knew, however, that Thiem would not get where he wanted to go with this “B-Hander” or with his much too passive style of play. Suddenly, when Bresnik took the second hand off the bat, Thiem lost a series of matches. The coaching scene shook its head, as Bresnik also impressively describes in his book “The Dominic Thiem Method”, but the focus was on the future.

“The guy never asked me when the training was over,” said Bresnik. Thiem’s ​​attitude, but also the enormous financial and time commitment of the entire Thiem family, was an important cornerstone of success for Bresnik. Bresnik even exerted influence on Thiem’s ​​upbringing off the court, and his parents allowed this too.

Thiem: “Will always be grateful to Bresnik”

In 2019 the break with Bresnik came after 17 years. Gradually, touring coach Nicolas Massu, who was signed up in February, became the main coach and only a few days before the French Open, after weeks of negotiations, the separation from manager Bresnik also came. The trainer / manager function was split up, the new manager was Herwig Straka.

“Hopefully it was the last big step in my career that led me to great successes. That’s why I did it. Of course, a few other things also played a role,” Thiem explained shortly afterwards. But he would always be grateful to Bresnik. “Günter took me from a child who couldn’t play tennis to the very top, which is crazy,” said Thiem.

A step that has paid off: “Of course, my game on hard court has improved a lot since I’ve been working with Nico,” said Thiem at the victory press conference in Flushing Meadows. “My attitude has also changed so that many of my strokes work great on hard court.”

For the Lower Austrian, who is also popular on the ATP tour because of his modesty, good manners and friendliness, encounters with the legends of this sport such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic are normal. He has long since not only been recognized, but also feared on the pitch. Thiem has beaten all sizes several times. Against Federer, he now even has a 5-2 record of victories.

Straka: “He can become the new Nadal, Federer, Djokovic of the new generation”

The comparisons with the great Thomas Muster, the only major individual winner from Austria until September 13th, 2020, had been appropriate for a long time. The meanwhile 17-time tournament winner has now also opened the US market with the title in New York. He has the strokes, the love of sport, the attitude and the necessary family support to fill in the footsteps of the 44-time tournament winner, French Open champion and ex-world number one. At the Grand Slam level, Thiem has already surpassed Leibnitzer with the title and three other finals.

On June 6, 2016, Thiem made it into the top ten for the first time after his first entry into the semi-finals of Roland Garros. Since then he has never fallen out of this circle, proof of stability and consistency at a high level. Thiem had received a kind of “accolade” from Roger Federer during the 2019 French Open. Thiem had to leave the large interview room prematurely because of Serena Williams. When asked how something like this could happen to a fourth in the world rankings, who is a … “A superstar. Male superstar. I don’t know what went wrong”, the 20-time major winner completed the question.

Words that Thiem took note of with pleasure, but with all modesty. Thiem, who comes from Lichtenwörth, has been one of the most aesthetic players on the tour for years. He hits his one-handed backhand like a picture book, his forehand reaches spin speeds that even surpass Rafael Nadal, and his kick serve is also feared.

With the engagement of the respected physiotherapist Alex Stober at the end of 2015 and the renewed “Thiem team” with Massu and the fitness coach Duglas Cordero, who brought Thiem in top physical condition, just like Mike Reinprecht in Austria, Thiem is well positioned.

One shortcoming was perhaps the tournament planning, which Thiem was sometimes a victim. But together with neo-managers Straka and Massu, he adjusted them. In any case, Straka sees great potential, as he already revealed to the APA in Paris last May. “I think he can become more than the new Andy Murray. He can become the new Nadal, Federer, Djokovic of the new generation who are ten years younger,” said Straka.

If Thiem stays healthy, he can become a real superstar, for many tennis fans worldwide he already is. “I really believe that 2020 can be even better for me,” Thiem had already announced in London. And proved it in the year of the corona crisis.

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