‘I pulled out of the 2021 Olympics with an eye on the ATP rankings’: Dominic Thiem
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Dominic Thiem
World No.5 Dominic Thiem has been struggling from the time he came back to the ATP tour in Madrid last month. The Austrian has not been at his best after winning his maiden Grand Slam at the 2020 US Open.
After crashing out before the final stages of the 2021 Australian Open, Thiem dealt with several issues – mental and physical. While he was hurting on his knee, the reigning US Open winner also complained about drop in motivation levels due to anxiety. Thiem even opened up on how the ongoing pandemic has affected his momentum.
Although Thiem did make the semifinals of the ATP Masters in Madrid, he was dumped out in the opening round of the 2021 French Open by Pablo Andujar, owing to which he event dropped to No.5 in the ATP rankings.
Recently, Thiem also decided to withdraw from the upcoming Tokyo Olympics to focus on defending his title in New York. “Few things changed my mind. It’s still a big dream for me to play in the Olympics so 2024 is the year I am going to be playing. I didn’t expect that it’s going to be so difficult and bad year for me. So I really need to make some points in order to keep up with the rankings, that’s one reason”, the Austrian reasoned in front of the press in Mallorca.
“Another reason, especially now I need some safe planning what I do in the upcoming weeks and months and Olympics was horrible, you couldn’t plan anything so I decided to withdraw and move it to 2024 in Paris.”
Thiem will play on grass in Mallorca before Wimbledon
Like many players, Thiem will also be seen warming up on the grass courts ahead of the third Grand Slam of the year. While the transition from clay to grass is tough, Thiem would want to practice on his least favourite surface before the Championships.
Thee 27-year-old is currently in Mallorca, where he will play the ATP event, before he travels to Wimbledon. That said, Thiem is yet to cross the fourth round at the All England Club. After accepting the wild-card for the event in Mallorca, he will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the second round.
Also read: ‘Never been complacent with Rafael, always prepared him for difficulty’: Toni Nadal
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Vivek Krishnan
(767 Articles Published)