After a very long period of inactivity, Dominic Thiem finally got back on track last week when he managed to beat Emil Ruusuvuori in Bastad.
It’s been a long road for Thiemwho last season had to stop due to a wrist injury and after his return, this 2022 had not been very pleasant either because he could not get a victory.
The confidence to win matches
“Victory was much needed”said the 2020 US Open champion.The ATP Challenger Tour in Salzburg the week before was also a step in the right direction, with a win there and a narrow loss in the next round. I felt that there was a big improvement compared to Roland Garros and the other tournaments. Crucially, I was able to continue it in Bastad with two good wins against two Top 50 opponents. That was very good and surprising for my confidence. It’s much more fun to win some matches and build momentum and confidence, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
After nine months out of competition, the Austrian returned to racing in March, but prior to his victory in Bastad he had faced a difficult prospect with a 0-6 record that it was not pleasant at all for who he became number 3 in the world.
“During spring it was not easy to stay positive, as I lost match after match,” Thiem admitted. “The way I played was not good enough for the level of the others. I went into those games knowing I couldn’t win, so it was very difficult.”.
“Mentally it was not easy. After Roland Garros, I sat down with my team and told them that I needed another block of training to get back to basics and get closer to my old level. It is very difficult if you lose and you go to train for five days and then in the next match you lose again. It is very hard”.
Among his analysis of his losing streak, the Austrian pointed out that the lack of training and constant competition affected him on his way to redeploy his tennis the way he likes it.
“The problem was that I just didn’t train hard enough because I didn’t have time. That was the biggest problem along with the fact that I was missing those match situations.” Thiem said.
His breaks after the breaks
“I am a player who always needs a little time after a break. Even after preseason, I need a few games to get my anticipation and footwork back. I was away for a year. I also didn’t have more than one game a week, so it was impossible to improve. It was a bad time, but I’m happy to be moving forward.”
In his time away from activity, the Austrian was able to see tennis from a different perspective and said he was surprised by the growth that both have had in this time Jannik Sinner as Carlos Alcaraz.
“I played against Jannik Sinner in an exhibition and I trained with him in many tournaments, so I knew he was coming out on top and he was good. Probably, he will soon be even higher”.
“I knew Carlos Alcaraz, but he made a breakthrough when I wasn’t around. Hopefully I’ll face them soon as it’s always exciting to play against new players. I imagine it’s not that fun to play against Alcaraz. It must be very difficult!”
