Dominic Thiem always has a chance to win whatever tournament he enters into on the ATP Tour, according to his coach Nicolas Massu.
Massu, who is a former Olympic tennis champion himself, is optimistic that the recent break in the sport due to the COVID-19 pandemic will not hamper the Austrian’s chances at the upcoming US Open. Thiem hasn’t played an ATP event since the Rio Open back in February. Although he has participated in a series of exhibition events over recent months across Europe where he won 25 out of the 28 matches he played.
“Of course, it’s not the same thing as tournaments on the ATP Tour. The reason it’s a Grand Slam or an ATP Masters 1000 is because all the best players will be there. But we tried to make him play many matches during this time so he doesn’t feel the impact as much,” Massu told the ATP official website.
“It was a good thing for Dominic because he wanted to play matches and loves the competition. I think that will help him in New York. He’s playing well, looks strong and is really focussed. He has even more motivation now because he’s used to a busy calendar with a lot of tournaments in a normal season.”
The hope for Thiem is that his recent flurry of matches will place him on good footing heading into the US Open where he will seeded second in a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. The tournament has been hit by a series of withdrawals due to concerns relating to the pandemic. Both Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka have pulled out. Thiem has played in three major finals so far in his career with two of those taking place at the French Open and one at this year’s Australian Open where he led Novak Djokovic by two sets before losing.
Although at the US Open the world No.3 has only managed to reach the quarter-final stage once in six attempts. Doing so back in 2018 where he was edged out in five sets by Nadal. Despite the mixed results, Massu is confident that Thiem will pose a big threat to the field this year.
“He’s recently been able to do a lot of things for the first time. He had never passed the fourth round at the Australian Open and was a set away from winning the title this year. Last year, he went to the Nitto ATP Finals having never passed the round-robin stage, but finished just a couple of points away from winning the tournament. His results weren’t that big in Asia, but then he won Beijing and reached the quarter-finals in Shanghai,” he points out.
“He’s one of the players who always has a chance to win when he plays a tournament. He’s No. 3 [in the FedEx ATP Rankings] and in the Top 10 for the past five seasons because his results are very consistent.”
Massu, who started his collaboration with Thiem last year, has managed to keep in close contact with the tennis star throughout the pandemic despite being in quarantine back in his home country of Chile. During lockdown Thiem continued to work alongside his father Wolfgang, as well as one of his physical trainers. Something that may benefit him heading into America later this month.
Due to the pandemic, the final quarter of the tennis season is packed with many top events. Including Thiem’s home tournament in Kitzbuhel that is set to take place during the second week of the US Open. Making it look unlikely that he will be able to participate. Massu says they will evaluate their schedule for the rest of 2020 after the US Open.
“Working with Dominic is a big motivation for me because he’s a great player and an unbelievable person. He’s really educated, he listens and always gives 100 per cent. It’s unbelievable as a coach because you only need to tell him what you see on the court,” he concluded.
Thiem is set to return to action at the Western and Southern Open which will get underway on August 22nd, a week before the US Open.
