Ninth seed Dominic Thiem is hoping to produce a ‘fast and powerful’ game when he takes on Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the US Open.
The 24-year-old booked a showdown with the king of clay after dismissing 2017 finalist Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2), on Sunday. Hitting over three times more winners than unforced errors (42-13) without facing a single break point. Thiem managed to dismantle Anderson’s serve by standing as far back on the court as possible to maximise the time he had to return it.
“I played him three years ago on Court 17, which didn’t allow me to go that far back. It helped me a lot. I also did the same in Madrid. It worked out, so I thought why not on hard court? It worked out.” He said about his tactics.
“I also played really safe from the baseline, which is also a big part of the performance today. But against him the most important is to put as many balls back into play as possible.”
Thiem’s latest triumph has elevated him to the last eight of a grand slam for the fourth time in his career and the first time on a hard court. His reward is a meeting with Nadal in what will be a repeat of this year’s French Open men’s final.
The two players have locked horns on the tour 10 times before, but all of those meetings were on clay. A surface the world No.1 has dominated throughout most of his career. Now Thiem has a chance to take on another surface, he is hoping the change will work in his favour.
“I’m really looking forward, to playing him on hard court for the first time.” He said. “On clay, I think it’s one of the biggest challenges in sports to beat this guy or to compete with this guy.
“I hope that it’s a little bit more comfortable on hard court, but I’m not sure.”
So far in their rivalry, Thiem has gotten the better of Nadal on three occasions, including this year’s Madrid Open. He is only the third player to have ever defeated the Spaniard three times on the clay. Alongside Gaston Gaudio and Novak Djokovic.
“He’s a fantastic player. He’s a very powerful player. He’s a great guy. Very good relationship with him. Happy for him that he’s in the quarter-finals here.” 11-time French Open Nadal commented about his rivals run in New York.
So what is the secret to Thiem’s triple victory? According to him, staying aggressive in matches is pivotal in winning. A technique Nikoloz Basilashvili performed well during parts of his four-sets loss to Nadal in New York.
“I think that I have very powerful groundstrokes, and I can even hurt him with them. But the key is to play really fast and powerful. But on the same time, not make too many mistakes.” Said Thiem.
“I did it sometimes against him, but it’s also a risky game style because it can happen that I make too many mistakes and then it looks black.”
Thiem is the first Austrian to reach the last eight of the US Open since Thomas Muster back in 1996.
