Austria’s Dominic Thiem has defended the quality of play at this year’s ATP Finals despite admitting that he ‘hasn’t seen a really good match yet.’
Eight out of the first nine singles matches has ended in straight sets. The only exception occurred on Wednesday night when Marin Cilic battled his way past John Isner 6-7(2-7), 6-3, 6-4. Nevertheless, many players have struggled on the court at The O2 Arena. One of the most notable being Roger Federer’s opening match, where he hit 34 unforced against Kei Nishikori.
“I don’t think it comes from fatigue. One tricky part of tennis is that every week it’s different conditions.” Said Thiem. “It’s never the same. We always have to get used to different courts, to different balls.”
“Kei, for example, he was playing amazing in Vienna and in Paris. Now, this week obviously he’s not playing that well. For me is similar.”
Trying to pinpoint the reason is debatable. Theories include the players being tired at the end of the season and the conditions. According to Tennis TV, the Court Pace Index at this year’s ATP Finals is 40.3. Meaning the court is slower than the past two years (42.1) but faster than the period between 2012-2015. The index measures the average speed on the court and is constructed based on data obtained by the Hawk-Eye system.
“We cannot play well every week. In general, I think players have some troubles here to play because I didn’t see a really good match yet.” Thiem admits.
“But, we all have to fight through this.”
Meanwhile, Nishikori, who has gone 1-2 this week, was more puzzled about how his form has dropped in London. Overall, he has produced 27 winners to 87 unforced errors during the round-robin stage.
“I was really tired after Paris, but I took some rest. I thought I was fresh. I don’t know, I just didn’t feel the ball this week.” Nishikori reflected.
“It could be the court or the ball. I don’t know. But, I just didn’t play well this week.”
Despite the questionable quality of certain matches, it isn’t all doom and gloom. 25-year-old Thiem has revealed that he elevated his form on Thursday following a tactical change. Opting to increase his string tension to 27kg and switching to a hybrid racket for the first time.
“There were some balls I didn’t hit into the court two days ago which a player of my class could never miss actually. That’s why I felt I have to change a little bit.” He explained.
“It’s very difficult to try something during the year. As I didn’t have so much to lose today, as I could play more freely, I decided to try it out. Obviously, it worked pretty well.”
Thiem can still qualify for the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament depending on the result between Federer and Kevin Anderson later today.
Dominic Thiem beats Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-4 at the #ATPFinals
Nishikori OUT.
If Federer beats Anderson – 1. Federer 2. Anderson
If Anderson beats Federer in two sets – 1. Anderson 2. Games % between Federer & Thiem
If Anderson beats Federer in three sets – 1. Anderson 2. Federer— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) November 15, 2018
