It may not be his favourite Grand Slam but Dominic Thiem is eager to return to winning ways at Wimbledon this year.
The former US Open champion will be playing at The All England Club for the first time since 2019. After the tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, Thiem missed the following year because of a wrist injury and then in 2022, he opted to skip the event to focus on his training. So far in his career he has only managed to win back-to-back matches at Wimbledon once and has suffered first round defeats in his two most recent appearances.
“For me, in terms of results, Wimbledon is my worst Grand Slam by a distance. The last match I won there was six years ago – so a long time,” Thiem said on Eurosport’s The Power of Sport.
Thiem has played in 26 ATP finals so far in his career but only one of those was on the grass at the 2016 Stuttgart Open in Germany. A year later he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon which is his best-ever result there.
So what is it about the surface that makes it so difficult for the 29-year-old? In his view, it is linked to how the ball bounces and its speed. Although this doesn’t mean that he isn’t a fan of playing during this time of the season.
“Grass is just different. The bounce of the ball is much lower. Serve is much more important. Often a few points can make the difference. You’ll probably also get a lot more breaks on grass, so it’s a lot more difficult but at the same time, it’s a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it’s a very brief season but it’s about getting the most out of it.” Thiem explained.
“I think everybody knows Wimbledon. Not just sports fans or tennis fans. It’s the tournament with the greatest tradition and it’s the dream of every player and of every fan to be there and to watch games.” He added.
In recent weeks Thiem has returned to the Challenger Tour but it hasn’t brought him much success. In Heilbronn, he was the fourth seed but lost his second match to Spain’s Pedro Martinez. Then in Perugia, he was knocked out in the first round. On the ATP Tour, he played in Halle but suffered another first round loss to Alexander Zverev. The player who he beat in New York to win his maiden Grand Slam title.
Thiem is currently ranked 90th in the ATP Pepperstone rankings and has a win-loss record of 7-14 so far this season on the Tour.
