ATP Munich: Dominic Thiem sets everything to zero – the long way back for the former Grand Slam winner

Doubles, 1st round, side court – the stands are full, while there are hardly any spectators on Center Court. The reason: Dominic Thiem!

The 29-year-old presents himself to the audience in Munich in camouflage leggings and a headband. In addition to Alexander Zverev, Thiem is the crowd puller on Aumeisterweg, whether he is in the doubles competition or in singles.

Thiem: Comeback in Marbella was “a mistake”

In retrospect, not a good idea. It was “too early”, Thiem admitted frankly in an interview with “Sport-Bild”. “A good few weeks of practice” would have been more helpful. “If I regret a mistake, then by all means,” says the tennis pro today.

But lost trust in the body, a lack of match practice and mental problems washed Thiem far back.

Ebrahimzadeh: “Then what is your goal on Monday?”

Understandable, as Ebrahimzadeh explains. “You’ve been training to win a Grand Slam since you were ten years old. Then you win the title on a Sunday – and what’s your goal on Monday?” the coach asks. From now on he will work with Thiem on the answer.

By this Thiem means opponents from the top ten of the ranking, i.e. the elite to which he himself belonged for so long. The reality is currently different. Ten defeats in 14 games are for the former number three in the world this year.

With the exception of Rune, the opponents tended to come from the back rows. Nine times Thiem lost out to players who were between 23rd and 121st in the ATP ranking.

Ebrahimzadeh: We start at these points

Up until two years ago, that would hardly have happened to him, as Ebrahimzadeh knows. “You have to look at Dominic’s best tennis and compare what the difference is from then to now. Those are the points where we start to bring him to his top level,” said the Saarlander.

In any case, the body plays along. Thiem can “hit full”, the wrist problem has been resolved, reports the trainer. On the basis of this, it is now a matter of “getting out the habits and the way of thinking that have emerged over the past year”.

Thiem must become the Thiem again, who makes life difficult for his opponents with his intensive style of play. The 29-year-old should work more “aggressively”. It is important that the Austrian “goes to the balls and dominates the game like he used to do”.

Thiem needs patience and strong opponents

The challenge is to be patient in this process and to bake smaller buns, at least temporarily. Not easy for someone who has 17 tournament wins, four Grand Slam finals and 26 weeks in the top 3 in the world in the vita. “It’s my job to help him,” explains Ebrahimzadeh. The goal is to improve the game, it’s “not about the results” at the moment.

Thiem’s ​​desire to play regularly against the crème de la crème can only be fulfilled if he gets far in tournaments. So it’s a bit about the results.

Ebrahimzadeh sees no contradiction in this, on the contrary. “I think it’s great when my player says that and wants to compete with the best. We both want to go there. We want to see where he stands,” emphasizes the former Davis Cup player.

Ebrahimzadeh: “Don’t look at Rune or Alcaraz”

At 30, Lestienne is the same age as Thiem. In the future, however, he will have to deal with the fact that the challengers are getting younger and younger. Which raises the question of whether the veteran can still get past shooting stars like Carlos Alcaraz (19), Jannik Sinner (21) or Rune (19).

Ebrahimzadeh is optimistic but thinks it’s a mistake to focus too much on the new generation. It is not the task “to look at Rune or Alcaraz, but to get Dominic’s game to its limit”.

If the project is successful, there should be no more limits for Thiem, or as Ebrahimzadeh says: “If we succeed, Dominic will be very, very dangerous – also for the boys.”