HAMBURG–
Dominic Thiem now has many accolades on clay, and these include having beaten Rafael Nadal at least once on the surface for four consecutive seasons, capturing nine ATP singles titles on the surface, two French Open finals, and many more. The top seed here at Hamburg dispatched Pablo Cuevas in straight sets, 6-3 7-6, to advance to the third round at the 2019 Hamburg European Open and continues his impressive clay-court season by extending his win-loss record on clay to 17-6.
The 25-year-old is for sure an exciting player and has many interesting aspects about him both on and off the court.
Advancing in Hamburg
By beating Cuevas in his first-round match, Thiem has now reached 250 wins on the tour. He joked: “Every round number is cool. Now 250 wins on the tour. I never thought that it would come this far, but I’m going to the 300 now!”
During Indian Wells this year, the Austrian surprised the tennis world by bringing on 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, Nicholas Massu, into his coaching team. Their partnership has seen him capturing his first Masters 1000 title by beating Roger Federer in the final and reaching a second consecutive Roland Garros final two months ago.
When asked about what exactly has former world No.9 Nicolas Massu added to his game, the Austrian said, “Many things. Of course, it was a pretty big change how the practice and everything is going. But I think the main thing we changed [is] that my game gets more unpredictable again.
“I think it was once when I was younger and it got lost a little bit, this part of my game. So, slowly it’s getting back. Of course, I hope it’s getting even stronger than before but I think it’s pretty fine now.”
His next round opponent will be the world No.50 Marton Fucsovics, who defeated crowd favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber in his previous round match.
“I think I have against played him the first time I was 16, he 17. So we know each other very well… We trained together on Sunday, but he played very well against Kohli, good forehand, he moves well. He is also one of the few opponents against whom I have not played in recent years. So it will be one interesting task.”
Thiem the football fan
Off the court, Thiem is a big sports fan – football in particular. In 2017, he created his own football team called 1. TFC Matzendorf, and he particularly supports Chelsea Football Club, based in West London.
He commented his excitement for the upcoming English Premier League next month. “I am really looking forward to the new season [for Chelsea] since a long time because [Frank] Lampard is the coach now. He was one of the big reasons why I became a Chelsea fan, so I am very happy about that fact and they have a transfer ban this year, so they have to play with the young players.”
“I think there are some really exciting young players in the team. So, I’m happy when the season starts and I cannot wait to watch the matches.”
Main Photo credit: Alexander Scheuber/Hamburg European Open
