It has been a week to remember for 22-year-old Dominic Thiem. The Austrian produced back-to-back wins over Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro to clinch his fourth ATP title. Now the world No.19 is hungry for more.
Thiem, the 2011 French Open Boys’ finalist, first rose to prominence on the ATP Tour in 2014. Playing in his home tournament, the Kitzbuhel Open, he reached his first ATP final before losing in three sets to Belgium’s David Goffin. 2014 was a solid year for Thiem, who also reached the last 16 at the US Open. Within 12 months he climbed the rankings from 137th to 39th by December that year.
The promised shown by Thiem in 2014 continued last year in what was a breakthrough season on the tour. In May 2015, the Austrian defeated Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer to win his first ATP title. His maiden title was the first of a trio of titles for Thiem during the European summer clay court season. Thiem was also victorious in Croatia and Switzerland. There was also success on the hard-court’s, when the 22-year-old reached the last eight at the Miami Masters. The trio of wins in 2015 elevated him to a ranking best of 18th in August that year.
The route into the top-20 has been gradual but impressive from Thiem. Speaking about life on the tour shortly after clinching his latest title at the Argentine Open title, Thiem explained to argentinaopenatp.com that mental toughness is a key factor.
“You have to be strong, otherwise you have no chance at this level, because you are not allowed to relax even for a second. Then your opponent’s improve their level and that’s it. So you have to be mentally strong all the time. The court, in general, is a very tough sport because there are so many mistakes, so many reasons to go crazy mentally, but you have to stay strong all the time. I can not do all the time, but do the best I can.” The 22-year-old explained.
The 22-year-old displayed his mental ability during numerous occasion in Buenos Aires. In four out of his five matches at the Argentina Open, Thiem was taken to three sets. In his second round match against Portugal’s Gastao Elias, he had to save a match point in the second set.
Speaking about the youth on the tour, Thiem spoke of the difficulties that young players face. Thiem is currently one of nine players aged under 22 in the ATP top 100. He is the youngest player inside the top 20.
“It’s really hard for young players who are not well-ranked because the others are very good and experienced. Some of them think they can do it, maybe not this year, but in the next may see a change.” Thiem said.
To remain in the top 20, Thiem shed light on one area that he needs to maintain, aggressiveness. Throughout his recent performance on clay the 22-year-old has produced a series of world class shots, however, at times his enthusiasm can get the better of him and result in the balls flying out of the court. It is for sure a fine line for the Austrian.
“To beat players like Nadal you have to be very aggressive. On defense you do not have practically no chance. You have to play to the lines and so I did. I’m very excited about what I accomplished. Nadal is a legend, one of the best players of all time”. A delighted Thiem told Argentine media.
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Thiem hopes to ‘establish himself inside the top 20’. The next stop for the world No.19 will be the Rio Open in Brazil. In the first round of the tournament he will play Spain’s Pablo Andújar.
