Dominic Thiem’s consistency over the past two years have been described as ‘spectacular’ by the man who is overseeing his run on the Tour.
Nicolas Massu has hailed the Austrian following another breakthrough season in which he won his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open. Thiem also reached the finals of the Australian Open in January and ATP Finals in November. Those performances have helped him secure a place in the year-end top three for the first time in his career at the age of 27.
“The level of consistency Thiem has had in the last two years is spectacular. In 2019 he finished fourth (in the rankings) and it was already difficult to overcome what he had done: he won 5 tournaments during that year and was a Grand Slam finalist,” Massu told ADN Radio Chile.
“It was super complex to do a better year and with few tournaments he did it: he finished third, winning his first Grand Slam and winning on surfaces where before the results were not the same as on clay.”
Former Olympic champion Massu joined Thiem’s team during the first quarter of 2019 and has played a pivotal role in his success. As a player he won six ATP titles and peaked at a high of ninth in the world back in 2004. The same year he won an Olympic gold medal.
In the view of the 41-year-old, it is Thiem’s determination and commitment to training that has aided his rise in the sport. He has now played in a total of four Grand Slam finals with three of those occurring whilst being coached by the Chilean.
“He works 100% every day, he has a spectacular mentality, apart from the talent and the power,” Massu said of the world No.3. “He has a lot to keep improving. It is not easy to do so because the margin is very small at this level.”
Continuing his praise, Massu believes the Austrian is the best player to rival the Big Three. A trio made up of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Thiem is one of only two players in history to have defeated every member of the Big Three at least five times. The other is former world No.1 Andy Murray. Although looking at the overall head-to-head records, the only member Thiem has a positive record against is Federer (5-2).
“He is very complete: he plays well on all surfaces, he has a great serve, forehand, backhand and he moves well. He has the talent to do things much better than you think,” Massu explains.
“It will always be difficult to play against the best in history, but if there is someone who can compete equally with them, it is Dominic. He has the shots, and with that you already depend on you.”
Massu has been nominated for Coach of the Year at the 2020 ATP Awards. An honour that is decided by other fellow coaches on the Tour. Previous winners include Magnus Norman, Neville Godwin, Marián Vajda and Gilles Cervara.
“I have a lot to learn, I have been in this (job) for a short time, but I have the desire and I try to be the best in what I do every day. One has to be prepared for success and bad times as well,” he concluded.
