Return to Indian Wells: can Thiem follow the 2019 coup?

Thiem remembered coup 2019 when he returned to Indian Wells. He hasn’t played there since his final win against Roger Federer four years ago, this time he’s doing it with a wildcard. The signs are similar to 2019, when he arrived with a minus season record. With his only title win at this tournament level, Thiem then managed to turn things around. “I came here in a really bad situation,” the 29-year-old recalled in an ATP interview the day before his opening match against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. “I didn’t play well, didn’t expect much. Then I played better and better and won matches.” In the first three rounds, Thiem did not lose a set, then benefited from the non-appearance of Frenchman Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals, before he put Canadian Milos Raonic in his place in the semi-finals. Thiem has very special memories of the final.

“Roger played with me in the first set. He acted at his best level and when he does that, it’s impossible to beat him. It was an incredible experience to play against someone with such good tennis,” he said Lichtenwörther on the Confederate who resigned in 2022. Thiem had hoped for a weaker Federer game in the second set, which happened and the outsider turned things around. In the end, Thiem won 3: 6, 6: 3, 7: 5, with which he won a Masters 1000 event for the first time in three finals.

But there is a difference to 2019, because after a defeat in Rio de Janeiro, Thiem decided to go to Indian Wells early and prepare intensively for the event physically and with his tennis. There were 18 days between his out in Rio and the start in Indian Wells. “It was a good decision because I had played really badly the two weeks before.” This time, after Rio, Thiem pushed in the tournament in Santiago, only nine days have passed since the initial defeat there.