Dominic Thiem - "I didn't recommend myself"
Dominic Thiem will meet Andrey Rublev today at 8:15 p.m. (live on ServusTV and on Eurosport and in our live ticker) . The first day of the invitation tournament "Thiem's 7" went absolutely as desired.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Jul 07, 2020, 09:11 pm
By Jens Huiber from Kitzbühel
The entertainment for the participants of "Thiem's 7" in the provisionally furnished player area in the Kitzbüheler Stadion is quite good: A table tennis table was set up in the actual press center, the inevitable Play Station anyway. And also a darts disc, albeit in the electronic version. What would have been Dominic Thiem on Monday was a small golf tournament at the adjacent golf club in Kaps Castle. According to Thiem, not a great golfer, he would not have been against a rain-related cancellation. As a replacement, the current third in the world rankings proposed a local darts battle.
Rain has been undesirable since yesterday, but the Thiem team did not seem to be certain at first: Dominic watched the game between Jan-Lennard Struff and Andrey Rublev long-sleeved, Physio Alex Stober went one better - and took in the box of his protégé with black sweatpants. Next to Nicolas Massu, who came to his protégé on Monday evening after a negative COVID-19 test at Vienna International Airport.
Reminiscences of the good old days
Stober, Massu, the parents Thiem and the paying customers then saw a match that in a way was reminiscent of the good, old clay court rummage. Just think back to Emilio Sanchez, who won in Kitzbühel in 1987 and 1989. With a lot of spin and slice. Or the three-time champion Albert Costa, who also shone with a difficult ball turn. The parallels, however, end there - the speed at which Thiem and Ruud spun the balls over the net was a light year higher than in the glorious Sanchez Costa days.
Nothing unusual for an exhibition fight in 2020 and under the special Corona requirements: That the participating players throw themselves into the matches with full verve. This is how Thiem did it in Belgrade, in Nice, but also in the Generali Austrian Pro Series: maximum commitment, even if from time to time you could marvel at a tweener from the great Nick Kyrgios textbook during the Adriatic tour.
The commitment of the players is also appropriate to the prize money that will be distributed in Kitzbühel, Thiem noted in his press conference after the first match. Corona-compliant separated from the journalists by a plexiglass pane.
Thiem impressed by Djokovic and Dzumhur
The format, according to which the third set is played in the form of a champions' tie break up to ten, not only agrees to Thiem, no: "You could do that more often." Say: From Thiem's point of view, this variant would be that of the doubles has been practiced for years, also an option for the ATP individual tournaments.
A football match of the participants is not an option these days, as Novak Djokovic organized in Belgrade. Who, however, got in touch as a striker for a nomination by Dominic Thiem for future tasks. Just like Damir Dzumhur's midfield engine. In the Belgrade review, only one player disappointed Thiem: "I had a very bad day and did not recommend myself."