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.
