Thiem to Aus: “Deep down I want a lot and more and more”

Even more than 90 minutes after his five-set defeat, including an unrewarded chase against Pedro Cachin (ARG), Thiem looked dejected, constantly touched his face and justified this with excessive expectations of himself. He now prescribed an “encore”. clay court.

It wasn’t because of the fans, and by no means only Austrians. Even after the end, they chanted “Dominic, Dominic” when Thiem left Court 6. These expectations from outside, Thiem later explained, were not to blame for his misery. “The mood was great, that was more inspiring. I think it’s more my own expectations. Actually, I know where I stand, but deep down I want a lot and I want more and more. That doesn’t quite go together, the expectations and my tennis,” said Thiem self-critically.

For the ex-US Open winner, it was “certainly the most painful defeat in a while”. Why? “Because I played very good sets, against (Jannik) Sinner, against (Holger) Rune, against (Andrei) Rublew. In training I was on an equal footing with the absolute top players. It certainly did something to me, but in the match it’s something completely different.” This is also what he wants to take away from Paris. “I need a lot more weeks like the last few weeks.”

Regarding his emotional state after the end, Thiem again put long-lasting motivation problems on the record. “It’s very, very bitter, but I certainly haven’t done my job one hundred percent well for a year and a half. Definitely again for the last six weeks, but obviously that’s not enough to start a good run again. That’s why it’s extremely bitter, but it doesn’t change that much about the whole process now.”

“The Last Drive Away”

When asked why he didn’t give everything for a year and a half, the former world number three explained this again with the certain saturation that some athletes sometimes achieve. “Clearly, because I’ve reached the big goal and then the question came up, why, what for? Why go through all the effort every day? And as soon as the question comes up, then everything is clear anyway. There’s already the last drive automatically away,” he said.

Going to the limit every day is very exhausting. But that drive is back now. More precisely, for six weeks. He’s really back in his career now. Thiem: “But I have to go through the whole thing much longer so that I can bring consistent results.”

Thiem is still missing both mentally and in terms of the blows. “A bit of both. Somehow I don’t have the conviction to take the last step – I have to work hard for that. I have the chance to win a match like this almost every week. Today I didn’t make it. I have to see that I’ll do it in the next tournaments. In terms of shots, the training sets were really good and then in the match when I’m tense, it’s not like it’s supposed to be.” 44 winners in five sets faced no fewer than 84 unforced errors after the match against Cachin.

To change that, Thiem now even wants to extend his clay court season. Actually, a short vacation was planned. “But I don’t really feel like it, I just want to stay put. It looks like I’m going to play another challenger next week – Heilbronn or Bratislava. If there’s a chance, then maybe in the week after Paris another one.” That doesn’t change anything on the lawn plan: Halle and then again Wimbledon would like to pull through Thiem.