Dominic Thiem: “I started okay. In general, I didn't play bad. I played okay match” - UBITENNIS

Dominic Thiem: “I started okay. In general, I didn't play bad. I played okay match”

By Staff
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TENNIS 2014 ROLAND GARROS – 29th of May 2014. R. Nadal d. D. Thiem 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. An interview with Dominic Thiem

Q. First big match on Chatrier. Can you speak about your feeling? How hard is it to play against Rafael Nadal?

DOMINIC THIEM: It was a great feeling to play on this court. Yeah, I expected it, everything that came after. He lost one match here in ten years or something, so I knew that it’s gonna be the biggest challenge in my tennis career.

 

Q. You did not seem very intimidated, given all that and knowing all that about him. You seemed to go out and find your game right away?

DOMINIC THIEM: I started okay, yes. In general, I didn’t play bad. I played okay match. Of course, I tried to play my game all game long.

 

Q. You said that maybe in two or three years’ time is your time to play against like big players, but I was wondering which kind of outcome you can take from today. Because actually, you could find some ways to hurt him, as well.

DOMINIC THIEM: I was learning a lot from today’s match, for sure. It’s really important to play against these guys a lot, against these top guys, because it’s more important than every practice, I think.

I hope I can take a lot with me from this match.

 

Q. Did you get any advices from Ernests before the match?

DOMINIC THIEM: Of course he gave me some advices, but I cannot play his style of game because he has unbelievable first serve. Even against Nadal he can, he has a lot of free points with the serve, and I’m a different player.

So of course he gave me advices, but we are two different players. It’s not really possible.

 

Q. What were you most pleased about in your own game today? And what surprised you most about Rafa’s game?

DOMINIC THIEM: I played okay. I did a lot of rookie mistakes, but against a player like him, yeah, you always want to keep the points short.

I didn’t want it, but, yeah, it’s tough. His game, yeah, it was pretty much what I expected.

 

Q. Many players say that his ball just arrives differently because of his extreme spin and things like that. What was your    did you have any trouble handling that? Did you find it different from other players?

DOMINIC THIEM: I think the conditions today, they took it away a little bit, the spin, because it was a little bit soft court. So the topspin wasn’t that aggressive, but still it’s tough to handle it.

I really like my backhand down the line, but against him, it was a little bit more difficult to control.

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