Thiem would have gladly accepted the 200 ATP points and another $ 153,000 in prize money. But he did not find the necessary intensity for this, said the world number three. He did not have any thoughts that he would have to save strength for the upcoming semi-final against world number one Novak Djokovic or number five seeded Alexander Zverev. “That wasn’t my way of thinking at all. I wanted to win the match, “said Thiem.
Thiem will not know his semi-final opponent until later Friday afternoon. The US Open winner wants to watch the match between Djokovic and Zverev in peace in the O2 arena, and he also wants to watch the double with Jürgen Melzer live. For the 39-year-old, the French Edouard Roger-Vasselin against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos is also about to make it to the semi-finals.
Thiem is subject to Rublew
The Russian Andrej Rublew dominated the game against Dominic Thiem at will and won the ATP finals 6: 2 7: 5.
Thiem doesn’t care about Djokovic or Zverev
The Melzer match (7 p.m.) is scheduled after Djokovic against Zverev (3 p.m.). The fact that Thiem could now make it into the semifinals as group winner against possible group runner-up Djokovic does not bother him. “Every player here is great. It doesn’t matter who I play against, I have to play the way I did in the first group matches. “
The 17-time tournament winner from Lichtenwörth said that he had no influence or preference on the opponent anyway. In any case, he sees himself as a favorite “not at all”. “Almost all matches at these finals are pretty open, the player who has the better day will go out as the winner. That is also the case for both semifinals. ”From Thiem’s point of view, there are“ no big favorites for the title ”, also due to the performances shown so far.
Hope for the Australian Open
What is certain is that Thiem will definitely start the new season as number three in the ATP ranking. A start that may even be staged without a preparatory tournament for the Australian Open due to the coronavirus crisis. The government may not want to allow entry of the players until the beginning of January.
“If that happens, it would be similar to what it was before the US Open,” said Thiem. Before that, there was an event that was moved from Cincinnati to New York. “But I clearly lost there,” he said with a laugh. “I hope the Australian Open will take place at all. If without a tournament before, we have to live with it. “
ATP World Tour Finals in London
(Great Britain, $ 5.7 million, indoor, hard court)
