Not pain-free but motivated: Thiem is on the verge of a comeback

The US Open winner has been in a real crisis so far this year and pulled the emergency brake, feeling ailing but also in a lack of motivation. Thiem hasn't played a match since March 16th, and at the Masters 1000 event in Madrid (from May 2nd), the fourth in the world rankings wants to continue his strong last few years on his favorite surface. In Vienna, Thiem has been preparing for the tour comeback for two weeks and reports on progress. However, the break has already shown itself. “Of course you notice that in the first few days, both with the hits and physically. The first few days were really hard. The whole body hurt, the punches weren't right. But after a few intensive and long days of training, it came back really quickly,” explained Thiem ORF -TV interview. “Now I’m slowly getting to the point where I’m ready for matches at a high level again.” The hunger for success is definitely back, especially since the big goal of the season, Paris and the French Open, begins in just under a month. “That also sped up the whole process. Phases like those in the last few weeks and months are, I think, quite normal for everyone and perhaps even a little more severe for high-performance athletes,” Thiem looked back. The level of top-class sport is so high. “If you’re not fully there, it immediately affects the results.” The knee hurts However, Thiem is not yet completely pain-free. His left knee is still causing him problems, which is why he has canceled his appearance in Belgrade. His problem: a congenital skin fold, incidentally in both knee joints. This caused him pain on his right side in 2020, and he is currently tormented by the same problem on his left side. “Nothing can happen, no matter how much I stress. The pain only comes after two, two and a half hours of intense training, but that's okay. When I look at the matches now, there is even more adrenaline involved. In general, things are getting better day by day.” The Austrian hopes that he will be pain-free again for his next appearances in Madrid, Rome and Paris. During training, Thiem stated: ORF -Conversation but good progress. “I'm playing really well again, I'm also moving well. Physically I've lost a bit of weight. But as soon as I was really motivated again, things happened really quickly.” He isn’t worried about the long break, after all there was a much longer break last year due to Corona. “After that I got back to New York very well,” he said with a laugh. In the next few weeks, Thiem, who has only lost one position in the ranking despite his modest 2021 record so far (round of 1.200 at the Australian Open, quarter-finals in Doha, first round in Dubai), will have a few points at stake. Of course, the most in Paris with XNUMX points. “If he’s that strong, he’s capable of achieving great things.” Coach Nicolas Massu The departure of his good friend Dennis Novak from Wolfgang Thiem's academy back to Günter Bresnik recently made headlines. In contrast to his father, the junior has no problem with this. “Dennis is not dependent on me or anyone else. From that point of view, he can do whatever he wants. The whole thing doesn’t affect our friendship, we’ve always kept things completely separate anyway.” Incidentally, coach Nicolas Massu has also been in Vienna for two weeks (Thiem: “He is a huge support”). The Chilean sees Thiem improving every day and is happy to be in Vienna. “It's always easy to be close to your protégé when everything is going well. But when things feel different and you don’t feel successful – that’s the moment when you have to be there for your player.” The two-time Olympic champion (singles and doubles) increases his training intensity every day, he reported in ORF . “Since I arrived here two weeks ago, I have seen the normal Dominic. He's training incredibly, now we have to work on translating his training performance into the matches. “When he’s in that mood, he’s capable of achieving great things,” the South American exults.

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Not pain-free but motivated: Thiem is on the verge of a comeback

After a seven-week break from playing, tennis star Dominic Thiem will return to the ATP tour at the beginning of May.

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