What some time ago was extreme motivation and full conviction, now seems to gradually turn into frustration, intimacy and a feeling that time is moving very fast and his tennis and mind are still stagnant. Dominic Thiem He continues to be immersed in a mental and tennis labyrinth from which he cannot find a way out and the feeling of urgency begins to make its way. In a chat with krone.at, the former 2020 US Open champion explains what being a Grand Slam champion meant to him and how the perfect storm of serious injuries and a hangover from success has plunged him into a tunnel from which he can’t find a way out. A certain shadow of withdrawal seems to hang over a Thiem who wants to continue fighting, but who, for the first time, shows signs of lack of conviction and deep discomfort as he sees the months go by and he cannot even come close to his best level.
“I just have to keep working and training, fighting for every point when I go out to compete. I think it’s the foundation on which I have to build and that if I keep doing that, at some point the change I’ve been waiting for in my tennis will take place” , comments a man who has lost the flame in his blows. “I am in a very difficult situation. I have been competing for almost a year since I recovered from the injury and I have to forget about the external voices and focus on myself. I know that I am 29 years old, I am going to turn 30, and I have to react now. There are some glimmers of hope in the last few months, I need to relight that inner fire that went out completely after winning the 2020 US Open,” Thiem warns.
Thiem admits that he was too hard on himself when he saw that he lost motivation after winning the US Open 2020
The Austrian openly acknowledges that being a Grand Slam champion had an unexpected effect on him. “I can’t blame myself for that, I’ve talked about it enough already. I spent so much time chasing that success that when it came, it was like I felt empty. I know that other tennis players win it drives them to continue doing it, but I am different and It took me a while to accept that. I was too hard on myself for a long time,” says one Dominic Thiem who refuses to lose hope. “I still believe that I can return to my best level, the moment I no longer have any hope of it, I will decide to retire from professional tennis and have a different life, but however small the thought is, I will take advantage of it to keep trying.” , declared the Austrian.
