When Dominic Thiem received the 2020 US Open, tennis’ Wheel of Life had seemingly course-corrected. After greater than three years’ utter domination by the legendary, however ageing, trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — that they had swept the earlier 13 Majors — it appeared that the previous had given solution to the brand new. Before Thiem, one needed to journey again six lengthy years for a first-time Slam winner – Marin Cilic on the 2014 US Open.
It didn’t matter that the match was wrecked by Covid and was performed within the soul-shattering environment of a bio-bubble. An injured Federer had by then shut down his season and Nadal didn’t take the difficulty to cross the Atlantic amidst extreme journey restrictions. Djokovic entered New York, however was disqualified for by chance placing a lineswoman with the ball throughout his fourth-round match.
This meant the competitors offered the primary glimpse of how males’s tennis might form up within the absence of the ‘Big Three’. Thiem, ranked No. 3 on the planet, led the mid-card, additionally comprising Alexander Zverev (the vanquished finalist), Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and was the primary to interrupt by means of. That he had already reached three Grand Slam finals (2018 & 2019 French Open, 2020 Australian Open) and overwhelmed the highest stars persistently made his ascent unsurprising.
A battle
Two years and eight months since that victorious September Sunday, Thiem is a shadow of his former self. He hasn’t added a single Tour-level trophy to his assortment, has struggled with accidents, misplaced type and motivation, and plummeted within the rankings.
The nadir got here in June 2022 when he suffered seven straight first-round losses and slipped to as little as No. 352.
The Austrian, who will flip 30 this September, has inched his manner again into the top-100, however the tennis world of at the moment is drastically completely different to the one he as soon as inhabited. Not one however two different gamers — Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz — have received their first Majors and subsequently scaled the head of the ATP rankings. The likes of Jannik Sinner are ready to stake declare, making Thiem’s climb again to the highest arduous.
Thiem’s fall has been astonishing to say the least. Injuries on this period of tennis are par for the course, however Thiem’s model of play, constructed on explosive athleticism and physicality, involving whipped strokes loaded with top-spin, places immense strain on his legs, wrists and forearms.
Taking a toll: Thiem’s model of play, which is constructed on explosive athleticism and physicality, places quite a lot of strain on his physique.
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In the final three years, he has damage each his knees, broken his proper wrist (June 2021) that put him out for 9 months and suffered an stomach muscle harm (2023 Australian Open). In March 2022, simply after his comeback, he examined optimistic for COVID-19, sapping no matter little power was left.
Ahead of the Indian Wells Masters this March, Tennis Data Innovations quantified this decline, Thiem’s common forehand velocity had lowered from 77.6 mph earlier than the wrist bother to 74.8, common top-spin from 2978 rpm to 2674 and top-spin use from 93% to 89%.
Emptiness
Thiem has additionally struggled for motivation. In this, he isn’t alone. American legend Andre Agassi has spoken eloquently a couple of sure “emptiness” he felt after having grow to be World No. 1.
Djokovic skilled one thing related after the 2016 Roland-Garros victory, his first on the crimson filth, which made him the primary males’s participant since Rod Laver to carry all 4 Grand Slam titles on the identical time. The Serb wanted greater than two years to return from the wilderness.
“When you spend your whole life chasing your big goal, subordinating everything to it and then achieving it, things are no longer the same for a while,” Thiem informed Austrian day by day Der Standard in April 2021.
“I spent 15 years chasing the big goal… without looking to the left or to the right. I achieved it under strange circumstances, [but] in a way, some things have fallen by the wayside.”
In the second half of 2022, Thiem lastly regarded like he had turned the nook, solely to fall again into the rut this season. Where he improved to complete with a 18-14 win-loss file final marketing campaign, he misplaced 9 of his first 10 matches in 2023. Only on the Estoril Open (Portugal) did he handle to win back-to-back matches for the primary time since Antwerp final October.
But the 29-year-old stays upbeat. He could already be desirous about life past tennis, however the intent to reclaim his place within the higher echelons of the game is seen.
This summer time on clay — a floor on which he has received 10 of his 17 Tour-level crowns — he has proven greater than a flicker of life and seems set to enhance on his two straight first-round defeats at Roland-Garros.
At the Monte Carlo Masters, he beat the previous warhorse Richard Gasquet and on the Madrid Masters, he went toe-to-toe with Tsitsipas earlier than shedding in a remaining set tie-break. Prior to that, within the opening-round win over Kyle Edmund, his common forehand velocity and spin confirmed important enchancment (78 mph and 3099 rpm respectively).
“The shots are getting way better,” Thiem mentioned in Monte Carlo. “I have the feeling that I can go full power with the wrist. There is no restriction. The goal is now to put everything together, because there is way more to tennis than to just be able to hit full.”