ATP Finals: Thiem is looking for solutions:”Will find out”

After his ATP finals, Dominic Thiem went to court – but he doesn’t know what exactly went wrong at the moment.

By Florian Goosmann from London

It was a strange game even for Londoners, the group match between Dominic Thiem and David Goffin. Thiem got off to a strong start, led 3:0 and seemed to get the last meters of the yearly turn again, after he had already shown a fluctuating but mostly appealing performance against Pablo Carreno Busta.

Then Thiem lost 20 of the next 23 points, was trailing 3:5 within a few minutes and did not recover. The Lichtenwörther fought despite a double break in the second set, but it was simply not enough – 4:6,1:6 was the end.

“The start was very good, but I have to ask myself why such a thing happens,” Thiem pondered afterwards. Why is that so? That’s what I have to find out. And I will find out,”he promised.

I certainly got a crack in all the close matches I’ve lost,”Thiem said of his bitter defeats in the US hardcore season: 3-6,7-6 (6), 6-7 (7) against Kevin Anderson in Washington, 4-6,7-6 (7), 5-7 against Diego Schwartz.

The good thing for Thiem: 2017 is over, the holiday is approaching – even if he didn’t want to blame fatigue for it. He still feels good, especially compared to the year before,”I was really glad that the season was over, I was extremely broken” Thiem sees what he sees as doubly bitter:”There is no obvious reason. It’s almost easier to accept defeats if you have a reason to. Even if it were fatigue, at least you know it.”

Nevertheless, the annual balance sheet speaks a good language:”If Jack Sock or David Goffin do not win the tournament, Thiem will overwinter in the top 5 of the world, thanks above all to his outstanding clay court season -” No one will be able to take that away from me,”says the 24-year-old.

I am convinced that I am a better player than I have been in the last few years, on all surfaces. All I have to do is put it into practice in the match, and that’s what I have to work on,” because one thing is clear about his tennis:”I certainly haven’t forgotten it.”