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It should have been the resurrection year for Dominic Thiem. He feels “extremely good” physically, wants to attack again in 2023 and “be able to beat all opponents again”. The 29-year-old from Lower Austria was quoted in January in the “Kronen Zeitung”.
Now, some three months later, the results speak a completely different language. The winner of the 2020 US Open only managed to win one of seven matches this year. The winter spirit of optimism has given way to great consternation.
Since his wrist injury, the “Dominator” is unrecognizable. The setback in Mallorca in 2021 still seems to have the proverbial handbrake.
“Couldn’t Hold Focus”
Due to the failure and the long search for form afterwards, Thiem fell deep. Not only in the rankings, where he was number 352 in the world and is now only 102. Thiem admits that the sporty bear market also has a big mental impact. In Indian Wells he fails in the first round against the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (ATP 68), against whom he actually had a formidable record (8: 1) except for one task – the fatal one in Mallorca. The four-time Grand Slam finalist is currently in too much trouble. “I can’t keep my focus. So many ups and downs, especially mentally. So it’s also hard that it’s all still fun. It’s more of a complete agony,” Thiem is quoted by “ORF”.
His confidence is currently “in the bucket”, according to the former world number three, who is currently looking back on a sobering tour of South America with early outs in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago. Previously, the Australian Open was the end point of the first round.
In Indian Wells he was allowed to start thanks to a wild card. The same goes for the next ATP 1000 tournament in Miami (starting March 22). After all: Thiem will not drop even lower in rank in the near future because he has no points to defend. But he is miles away from his stated goal of being back among the 32 seeded players at the French Open by the end of May. (mpe)
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
