Dominic Thiem Believes Grand Slam Breakthrough Will Ease Pressure In Hunt For More Trophies - UBITENNIS
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Dominic Thiem Believes Grand Slam Breakthrough Will Ease Pressure In Hunt For More Trophies

The US Open champion believes he will be fit in time for Roland Garros as he weighs up his chances.

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Dominic Thiem with 2020 US Open trophy (image via https://twitter.com/usopen)

Becoming the first man to win his maiden Grand Slam title since Marin Cilic in 2014 Dominic Thiem says he will be able to play more freely in the future.

 

The world No.3 staged a valiant comeback to oust Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6), in the US Open on Sunday in what was his fourth appearance in a major final. Thiem had previously lost his other three to members of the Big Three. He is a two-time runner up at the French Open to Rafael Nadal and came second best to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open in January. Now he has entered into the winner’s circle, the Austrian believes the sky’s the limit for him.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic which brought professional tennis to a halt for five months, Thiem will have to wait just two weeks before once again playing a major with the French Open starting. There had been concerns about his Achilles but the 27-year-old is confident he will be fit in time. As for his mentality? That is something he is less sure about.

I think physically I’m going to be fine, 100%. I’m going to have enough time to recover from all the troubles I had,” he said.
“The question is how I’m going to do it with the emotions mentally. I’ve never been in this situation. I achieved a big, big goal. I don’t know how I’m going to feel the next days.’

Nevertheless, Thiem is expecting to play future events with less pressure on his mind after achieving one of his dreams. He is only the fourth man outside of the Big Three to win a Grand Slam since 2010. The others are Cilic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.

“It’s going to be or I expect that it’s going to be easier for me now in the biggest tournaments because I have in the back of my head that I have had a great career so far, way better career than I could ever dream of,” he explained.
“Until now there was still a big part, a big goal missing. With this goal achieved, I think, and I hope that I’m going to be a little bit more relaxed and play a little bit more freely at the biggest events.”

Thiem’s view is one that has also been echoed by his coach Nicolas Massu. A former Chilean player who won two gold medals at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Massu teamed up with Thiem during the first quarter of 2019 after taking over from long-time mentor Gunther Bresnik.

“I think this will help Dominic to be more calm because they talk a lot about the new generation,” Massu told reporters on Sunday. “Now he is going to be more calm playing in the next Grand Slam. I think he for sure, maybe this year or whatever, he will have a chance to win the French Open. But now I think we have to go step by step. We won here. When we arrive in Paris, when we start to practice, we have to think about French Open.”

A couple years ago Thiem was regarded by many to be at his most dangerous on the European clay. 10 out of his 17 ATP titles have been won on the dirt but his three most recent triumphs have occurred on a hard court. It wasn’t until the end of last year where he realised that he had more weapons that he first thought.

“I thought my biggest chances by far are on clay. But then the end of last year somehow a lot of things changed when I won Beijing, when I won Vienna and when I played the great Nitto ATP Finals,” he reflected.
“I realized that my game is suiting the hard courts really well.’
“Since working with Nico (Massu), we have improved my game on the hard court a lot. Also changed my mind that many shots are working great on that surface.’
“At the end it doesn’t matter to me. The main thing is that I have one of these four now.”

Thiem is the second player from his country to win a major title after Thomas Muster at the 1995 French Open.

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Alexander Zverev Deserves More Respect According To Boris Becker

According to Boris Becker, Alexander Zverev deserves more respect from tennis journalists.

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Alexander Zverev (@WeAreTennis - Twitter)

Boris Becker has claimed that Alexander Zverev deserves more respect despite Zverev failing to live up to his potential at Grand Slams.

 

Zverev has only reached one Grand Slam final in his career despite being a regular inside the world’s top ten as well as performing at regular ATP events.

This season Zverev played a limited schedule after recovering from an ankle injury but still managed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

However most critics have been loud when judging Zverev’s career as it was looking likely that he would be a regular Grand Slam champion.

The German has failed to live up to expectations but former Grand Slam champion Boris Becker believes Zverev deserves more respect.

Speaking to Eurosport Becker also said that Zverev’s father being the coach is a more than successful approach when it comes to the former US Open finalist’s career, “In my opinion, he doesn’t get enough respect from the tennis experts internationally,” Becker explained.

“They’re all talking about the young three or four, but don’t give Zverev, Medvedev or Rublev enough respect. He’s playing with his fist in his pocket a little bit, wants everyone show that he is not a thing of the past, but that his best time is yet to come.

“Surely his father knows best what is good for his son, but if you look into the box at the competition, you can also see changes.”

Becker has followed Zverev for most of his career so knows that the best is yet to come from the German.

Alexander Zverev will look to prove himself next season when he starts his 2024 season when he represents Germany at the United Cup.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero Analyses Key Areas For Carlos Alcaraz’s Development

Juan Carlos Ferrero has outlined the next steps in Carlos Alcaraz’s development.

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(@tennisnewsbrazil - Twitter)

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero has analysed the key areas for the Spaniard’s development heading into the 2024 season.

 

The former world number one’s season has come to an end after a successful year which saw him win the Wimbledon title as well as winning two Masters 1000 titles.

Alcaraz capped off an incredible season by reaching the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

However there is a long way for the Spaniard to go if he wants to consistently go toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic.

Speaking to Marca Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke about the Spaniard’s development and said that Alcaraz is too emotional, “Be more regular in games, not open doors. Sometimes there are mistakes and it is something that we have to improve a lot,” Ferrero commented.

“Although it is true that he opens doors, he always competes well and at the highest level. He knows it, the other day he already said that Novak doesn’t give you one. He has to improve his decision making and he will achieve that with experience. Carlos is very emotional and that sometimes helps him and other times not so much.”

It’s clear Alcaraz’s high-quality is there but to consistently do it against Djokovic is another task altogether as the Spaniard looks to go from strength-to strength next season.

One area that is clearly a priority for Alcaraz is physical conditioning especially considering what happened against Djokovic at Roland Garros earlier in the season.

Ferrero said that will be a clear focus heading into 2024 but couldn’t guarantee that Alcaraz will play a tournament before the Australian Open, “Because of the year and the fatigue he has been in, what he needs is rest and disconnecting for 8-10 days with his friends,” Ferrero stated.

“From there, the thinking must go back to working really hard, strong and well to start very strongly in Australia. One can never be sure of that. Sometimes you play a tournament and it doesn’t go well, you left home too early. There are many ways of thinking.

“This year we haven’t played Australia and he finishes number two. That means there is no urgency to play a tournament early. Carlos is a player who enters competition quickly, you don’t usually see him without rhythm.

“Although it is true that he becomes more dangerous from the round of 16, from the quarter-finals. I am confident that the two exhibition matches and the training sessions will help us play a good tournament.”

Alcaraz will be looking to play the Australian Open which starts on the 15th of January after the Spaniard missed last year’s tournament due to a leg injury.

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Australian Open Chief Confident Nadal Will Play But Kyrgios’ Participation Uncertain

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Nadal RG 2022 by Night (foto @RolandGarros)

The tournament director of the Australian Open says he is ‘certain’ that Rafael Nadal will play at the Grand Slam even though the Spaniard has yet to outline his comeback plans. 

 

Craig Tiley told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday he hopes to receive some clarity over Nadal’s intentions in the next couple of weeks but is confident he will play. However, the tennis official had previously claimed in October that the former world No.1 had already committed to play in the event before his team denied that statement.  

Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, hasn’t played a Tour match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. He was originally expecting to take an eight-week break but the recovery didn’t go to plan and he ended up having surgery. In May he confirmed that he will take an extended break from the sport to heal his body and admitted that retirement next year is a possibility.

“Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day because he’s a massive drawcard for us,” the Reuters News Agency quoted Tiley as saying. 
“He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up.
“Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago.”

Earlier this month Nadal confirmed that he intends to return to the Tour but admits that he will continue to experience a degree of pain. Although he has yet to give any information about which tournament he will begin his comeback at. The 2024 season begins during the first week of January.

“I’m well, training, and happy. I’m at a good stage of my life,” atptour.com quoted Nadal as telling reporters in Barcelona.
“Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good.’

Will Kyrgios play?

Another player Tiley is eager to welcome back is home player and former Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios who has only played one Tour-level match this season due to injury. He underwent knee surgery in January and then tore a ligament in his wrist during the summer. As a result, the Australian currently doesn’t have an ATP ranking due to his inactivity. 

“We have spoken to Nick, and he obviously wants to do the best he possibly can to give him the best chance to play in January,” Tiley said of Kyrgios.
“Whether he’s playing, whether he’s doing something else, Nick will be here in January and to get him to play will be great. But we’ve got to take it as it comes and he’s got to make sure he takes care of his health …” 

Kyrgios recently worked as an analyst for the Tennis Channel during this year’s ATP Finals in Turin and gave a brief update on his ongoing recovery during a segment. 

“After last year, I had such a great year, and I’m so hungry to get back out there,” the 2022 Wimbledon finalist commented.
“So I’m doing everything I can to get back out there. Obviously, you know how injuries are every day, just doing the rehab, doing the gym work.”

The Australian Open will begin on Sunday 14th January. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending champions. 

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