Dominic Thiem’s preparation for the North American swing of the tour involved a lot of work, but not much time playing on a hard court.
After suffering a shock first round loss at Wimbledon, the Austrian returned to his beloved European clay. A surface where he is regarded to be the most dangerous. It was during that period where he achieved one of his childhood dreams – to win an ATP title at home. On Saturday he defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets at the Kitzbuhel Open. Two days on from that, he is getting ready to play at the Rogers Cup in what will be his first hard court tournament since March.
It is understandable why Thiem Chose to play on the clay, but how risky was the decision? He has left himself with hours instead of days to adapt his game to another surface. Something Thiem himself admits is a challenge. However, he believes the positives are greater than the negatives at present.
“It was such an emotional week, four matches on a sold-out Austrian crowd with my first title on home soil. Of course, was not the biggest title of my career, but probably the most beautiful one.” Thiem reflected during his pre-tournament press conference on Monday.
“I couldn’t get here with more confidence. Of course, it’s a little short time to prepare. Not going to be easy with the switch from clay to hard court, only three days in between.”
The Rogers Cup has been a tournament of nightmares for the French Open runner-up. It is the only Masters event where he is yet to win a main draw match. Thiem’s win-loss record currently stands at 0-5 since 2013. Last year he was defeated by rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Trying to end the drought, his opening match could be another challenging one. Granted a first round bye, Thiem will open up against either Dennis Shapovalov or Pierre-Hughes Herbert. Home player Shapovalov reached the semi-finals of the tournament back in 2017. Meanwhile, Herbert has a winning head-to-head record of 2-0 against the Austrian.
“It’s a shocking stat.” Thiem commented about his record. “The tournament is really strong again now. An early loss can happen again to Pierre-Hugues or Denis, two incredible players. It’s not the ideal preparation for me. But, of course, I’ll try my best to get my first victory here.”
Ahead of the match, the world No.4 says he needs to make ‘small’ adjustments to his game. Aiming to rediscover the form which took him to the title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells earlier this year. His first ever taste of success at Masters level.
“There are some small things to adjust.” He explained.
“The change is not that big. But still of course, most of the time I return in the clay court season four or five meters from the baseline. It’s over now. I have to get closer to the baseline again.’
“I can use my slice more. The serve is also a big difference. Most of the time I serve kick or three-quarters serves. Now I’m going to go full power flat again. These are three of the most important things.”
Thiem is the second seed in the Rogers Cup this year
Thiem’s Rogers Cup record.
- 2018 – vs TSITSIPAS, Stefanos (GRE) 3-6 6-7(6)
- 2017 – vs SCHWARTZMAN, Diego (ARG) 4-6 7-6(7) 5-7
- 2016 – vs ANDERSON, Kevin (RSA) 1-4 RET
- 2015 – vs GULBIS, Ernests (LAT) 6-3 6-7(8) 1-6
- 2014 – vs SIMON, Gilles (FRA) 6-3 4-6 0-6
