Australian Open: Thiem has to get out of his living room

No living room: Dominic Thiem has to leave his feel-good oasis for the last 16 against tennys Sandgren’s underdog. Nevertheless, the Austrian has never had a better chance of making it into the final eight in Melbourne.

From Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne

The confirmation came on Sunday noon local time to the best coffee and cake time. Dominic Thiem has to leave his living room to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time. The match of the world number five against the American outsider Tennys Sandgren (ATP no. 97) will take place on Monday in the futuristic Hisense Arena. The plexicus fashion surface in the second largest stadium in Melbourne Park is a little faster than in the Margaret Court Arena, which has become a haven for Thiem in the previous rounds,”I find it simple and extremely beautiful. Not too big – and not too small,”said the 24-year-old about his favourite sporting venue Down Under.

But no matter where – Thiem is against the passionate video player and Stan-Wawrinka-bezwinger Sandgren the huge favourite. With a success on the eighth day of the tournament, the Lichtenwörther could reach the quarter-finals of a major for the first time outside of the French Open “. I’ll do everything I can to make it,”said Thiem, who had also won in the third round against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (6:4,6:2,7:5).

Thiem’s memories of Flushing Meadows 2017’s last sixteen appearances in 2017 still evoke unpleasant feelings about four months later. In New York, the “Dominator” had to concede a 6-1,6-2,1-6,6-7 (1-7), 4-6 defeat to the Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro after a 2-0 lead and two match points. And that one day after his birthday. At the new Grandstand, because of the many South American fans there were conditions like in a football stadium “It was of course a very painful defeat”, Thiem commented in view of the so tangible, but ultimately missed quarter-finals in the Big Apple.

But nobody would be surprised if coach icon Günter Bresnik’s protégé would win his quarter-finals ticket on Monday. The down-to-earth Thiem is the person to be found in Constance, and at the last six Grand Slam events the power player with the one-handed picture book backhand came at least into the round of the last 16th place. If a further victory in the first duel with Sandgren would be successful, either Melbourne record champion Novak Djokovic (Serbia/No. 14) or the unseeded Alexander-Zverev contender Hyeon Chung from South Korea would wait in the semi-final match.

Thiem in any case is hot – and well prepared. The jet lag, which made him suffer in the first few laps, has finally survived. He also senses that his preparation has been fruitful with a training camp in Tenerife. The daily routine on the Canary Islands included endurance runs on the beach, tennis and strength training as well as regeneration:”Everything was perfect. Everything could be reached in just a few minutes on foot, it couldn’t have been better,”said the Lower Austrian.