ATP Challenger Marbella: Dominic Thiem - The rocky road back to the top of the world
Dominic Thiem lost in the first round of the ATP Challenger tournament in Marbella. The defeat against Pedro Cachin showed how much work the Austrian still has to do.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Mar 29, 2022, 08:33 pm
by Nikolaus Fink from Marbella
Dominic Thiem in top form is undoubtedly one of the best tennis players on this planet. It was not for nothing that he won the US Open in 2020, it was not for nothing that he was already third in the world rankings, it is not for nothing that he has already won a total of 16 games against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in his career.
But it can take a while before Thiem - this runs like a red thread through his career - reaches this top form. The entire tennis circus knows that and of course the Austrian himself. And yet the defeat against the world number 228 came. Pedro Cachin surprised this Tuesday afternoon in Marbella.
Thiem taciturn
The fact that Thiem himself had hoped for more was expressed in the fact that, contrary to announcements to the contrary, he was not available for press statements after his first round defeat. Only compared to the "ORF" took the world number 50. to his first match after more than nine months of injury break position.
"Of course, a lot of things rusted that were lost. I took the first step towards a comeback and it was exactly what I expected," said Thiem, who clearly noticed the lack of match practice. The Lower Austrian had already struggled with his game in the training sessions.
Thiem: "The result was secondary"
Nevertheless, Thiem did not lose sight of the positive aspects either: "It was very good that I was back on the pitch. The result was secondary." In addition, he had no physical problems: "In that sense, it was perfect."
Nevertheless, the defeat showed how rocky the way back to the top of the world will be for Thiem. The start has been made, at the ATP 250 tournament in Marrakech the next step is to follow next week: "Of course there is no flow inside. The last percent, which are extremely important, you only get in matches."