Dominic Thiem has been trying to get back to the top of the world for almost two years after his serious wrist injury.
But the now 30-year-old from Lower Austria doesn’t really get anywhere. Hard-fought progress like last year’s Kitzbühel final or strong performances against top players are always followed by surprising setbacks.
Even in the individual matches, Thiem mainly struggles with his consistency. While he plays great in one set, things can’t go well in some sets or games.
For local tennis fans, the Thiem matches are also often an emotional roller coaster ride as spectators.
Davis Cup captain and ÖTV sports director Jürgen Melzer is also closely following the events surrounding Austria’s former number three in the world.
The former world number eight also watched closely Thiem’s first round match at the Australian Open against top Canadian player Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Melzer: “Of course it’s in your head”
“Dominic’s first two or actually almost three sets were rather modest. Then the match was better. It’s always a shame with Dominic because you always have the feeling that there wasn’t much missing, that he once had such a dirty game “Wins,” says Melzer about Thiem’s opening match in Melbourne, in which he fought his way into a decisive fifth round after being 2-0 down, but ultimately lost out.
Can Thiem no longer physically keep up with the world’s best or is it something in his head that is preventing him from making the leap forward?
“Of course it’s in your head,” says Melzer. “He can play tennis. He also played really well in the fourth set in Australia. Then he served the set and the game was amazing. That’s why it’s such a shame that he doesn’t somehow get this important dirty victory. It “It’s just not going well. It’s really good at times, but he just can’t manage to keep it going.”
High tension causes mistakes
Such situations are not particularly unusual in tennis. The tension that weighs on a player is immense – and as a result, even absolute world-class players make mistakes that one would normally not think possible. This is a big problem, especially with long series of defeats.
“Once you’ve played, you know that feeling and it’s really cool.”
Melzer on the tension in tennis.
“It’s very easy. It’s when you haven’t won a match for a long time, you’re tense and you don’t know how to hit these three lines anymore. Once you’ve played, you know that feeling and it’s really cool “, explains Melzer, who played 686 matches (350 wins) on the ATP tour in his career.
According to Melzer, anyone who has ever played knows this. Even absolute world-class players can suddenly find their arms heavy during a peak period.
“That’s also human and you even saw that in Australia in the semi-finals with Sinner against Djokovic on the first match point. Good return, forehand in the field and then the ball falls off his racket,” recalls Melzer of Sinner’s match point in the third set . Djokovic managed to win the set and only finally had to admit defeat in the fourth round. “Tension in tennis is a terrible thing!”
Another change of coach?
The coach Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh, who was hired last May, has not yet been able to bring about the hoped-for turnaround for Thiem. While it looked in the summer as if the German could bring about positive changes in Thiem’s game with his input, the increased number of errors in the past few weeks has raised slight doubts again.
According to Melzer, should Thiem look for a new coach again? “To be honest, I’m too far away to make a qualified statement. But I really appreciate Benni and he has an idea about this sport,” says Melzer, who also admits: “At the beginning you saw his handwriting more than you do now. I was surprised by the spate of forehand errors he made in Australia. It wasn’t so bad last year.”
In any case, it is hardly possible to find one piece of good advice for Thiem that could help him move forward again. “We talk for 100 hours about how things could get better, but he knows all that himself. He knows that his forehand isn’t where he would like it to be.”
“I won’t be the solution to the riddle”
The Davis Cup duel against Ireland will take place in Limerick at the weekend. Thiem will fly to the ÖTV team on Wednesday and do some training sessions with Melzer. The 42-year-old from Lower Austria doesn’t expect that he, of all people, will be able to bring about a turnaround in these few days.
“Of course I will also try to help him at the Davis Cup next week. But I won’t be the solution to the puzzle in a few days. At least equally clever minds have been racking their brains about how for some time “You can fix it again. The most important thing is: He doesn’t do it on purpose. He wants to, he doesn’t have to anymore.”
Is there a risk of a career end?
Melzer brings up an important point: Thiem, who has earned over $30 million in prize money alone, no longer has to play tennis. So how long does a former major winner and ex-world number three still want to worry about qualifying competitions and first-round defeats?
“It always depends on how much you love this sport,” said Melzer, who only ended his career at the age of 39. “But that’s his personal decision, so I can only speak for myself. For me, I simply loved this sport and this competition so much that it was very difficult to let go again.”
Above all, “this measuring with the opponent” always gave Melzer a special feeling. “If you have the feeling that on a good day you can beat anyone again. For example, I beat Raonic again in my last official match. If you still feel that in you and the will to compete – then “Can he keep playing like this for another five years,” said Melzer, who also added: “I just don’t know if he’s that type. He can only answer that question himself.”
From the perspective of Austrian tennis, Thiem will hopefully answer this question with a “yes”. Because even in the form of the last two years, Thiem is still an established top 100 player who can cause enthusiasm among the home fans with his game and that certain something.
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2024-01-29 09:30:03
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