Except for his new haircut – halfway between a Cristiano Ronaldo version "spaghetti hair" and a Roger Federer teenager – there are signs of maturity which do not deceive at Dominic Thiem. The Austrian says he is on a mission this season. Winner of his first Masters 1000 at Indian Wells last year and finalist at Roland Garros in 2018 and 2019, the world number 4 wants to break the glass ceiling in the Grand Slam and lift his first trophy.
After five major failures (four at Roland, one at the US Open), Thiem finally managed to take revenge on Rafael Nadal, Wednesday January 29 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open (7-6, 7 -6, 4-6, 7-6). Winning three tie-breaks against the Spaniard – who had never lost so many in a match – speaks volumes.
His intensity and commitment are still exemplary, but the Austrian is no longer afraid of winning. He is now able to display, on hard, a consistency that he lacked in the past. His victory over the world number one is only the confirmation of his progress on the surface for twelve months. His victim did not look for excuses: "He was very aggressive, he pulled out big shots, even in difficult positions. I lost to a very big opponent who deserves his victory ", greeted the Majorcan.
Separation from his tennis father
At 26, Thiem is entering the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament other than on crushed brick for the first time in his career. At the Rod Laver Arena on Friday, he will face a novice at this stage: the 22-year-old German Alexander Zverev. "Sascha (Zverev) and I know each other very well. For me it’s kind of funny because, for the first time in the half of the Grand Slam, I’m going to challenge a player younger than me. "
In the Top 10, the Austrian floats between two generations, far too young to compete with the trio of cerbères who have locked the doors of the circuit for fifteen years but too old to be part of the "Next Gen" where the Zverev, Stefanos gravitate Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev or Andrey Rublev.
For a long time, Dominic Thiem was considered as the nice boy in the locker room, polite and even docile. But for the past twelve months, signs of emancipation have been accumulating. The Austrian first "killed" his tennis father, Günter Bresnik, his mentor since he was 9 years old. A separation he assumed in early 2019 even though his parents were skeptical. The quasi-military methods coach had made him his creature. It was he who forged the player with overpowered strikes which earned him his nickname "Dominator", inherited from his compatriot Thomas Muster, "Musterminator". He too who asked him, at 12, to opt for the backhand with one hand. “The separation took place after a long time. I think it was time. It was the best decision for me personally ", had justified Thiem.
At Roland Garros, we saw that the boy had character. Not just because in the final, he stood up to Nadal for two sets. Behind the scenes too. Evidenced by this scene after his victory in the third round. During the press conference, the Austrian was asked to give up his place to Serena Williams, who, vexed by his defeat, was in a hurry to evacuate the exercise. He usually lymphatic in front of the journalists was angry all red: "Is this a joke? ! Do I have to leave the room because she's coming? I also leave, I also do what I want. I am no longer a junior. "
To help him cross a course, Nicolas Massu, 9e world in 2004, joined the clan a year ago. Convinced that his player is much more than a baseline hitter, the Chilean wants to broaden the palette of a player who is sometimes reduced to an "extra-terrestrial", like Nadal at the start of his career. "Dominic is a player who can impose his game on any surface. He can also play all styles of tennis. He can play flat, lifted, change the pace with the backhand slice. He’s a complete player who knows when to attack, when to defend ”, develops the coach in The Team Thursday.
The embarrassing tradition of Mme Thiem
Determined to work hard in his quest for a first Grand Slam, Thiem had added the services of his glorious elder Thomas Muster, winner of Roland Garros in 1995 and world number one in 1996. The collaboration was sealed on the sidelines of the Australian Open. Scheduled to last at least twenty weeks, it will have lasted only … fifteen days. "It didn't work, it's that simple. We said to ourselves from the start: if anything was wrong, we should talk about it ", soberly justified Thiem in Melbourne after qualifying for the knockout stages. Such a decision in the middle of the Grand Slam is surprising. Here again, Thiem assumed its choice.
There is only one new tradition that the Austrian does not take on. He explained this to Jim Courier's microphone after cutting Gaël Monfils into eighths (6-2, 6-4, 6-4). The American asked him if it was true that his mother had a tattoo for each of her titles. "Unfortunately, I confirm, replied the interested party in an embarrassed little laugh. I had a really bad start to the season last year with a few losses in the first round and after a long and tiring trip from Rio to Indian Wells, she said to me: “If you win this title, I will tattoo ”, but I won the tournament, and that's how the tradition started. "
When her son won Indian Wells, Karin Thiem got an eagle tattoo. When he triumphed in Beijing, this time he was a panda. If the "Big 3" dolphin crosses the Zverev obstacle and then folds the Djokovic monument, which will target its 8e title on the Rod Laver Arena, it will be a kangaroo, he predicted. At this rate, Karin Thiem will soon have a zoo on the skin.
