ATP: Dominic Thiem starts at Rothenbaum

The German Open 2018 have their first top favorite. For Dominic Thiem it is the first performance at the Rothenbaum in Hamburg since 2014.

When Dominic Thiem celebrated his Rothenbaum premiere in July 2014, there were not many spectators who could relate to his name. The young Austrian was 20 years old at the time, had played his way from world rankings position 139 to position 55 in the course of the season and attracted attention with a win over Stan Wawrinka, who was third in the world rankings at the time.

Rafael Nadal already said at that time that Thiem had everything he needed to become a great champion. And it looks like the Spaniard’s right. Thiem now has nine ATP titles on his account, seven of them on clay. He has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in the last two years and has been one of the ten best tennis players in the world since June 2016. In July, the seventh in the world rankings wants to add another title to his impressive work record. On his favorite surface. Presented by Kampmann at the German Open Tennis Championships 2018 (July 21 – 29).

“Dominic Thiem was the first of the so-called’young savages’ to establish himself among the absolute world leaders. Especially on sand he has already proven his top class many times”, says tournament director Michael Stich about the 24-year-old Austrian. “I am very happy that we can present Dominic Thiem, one of the best clay court players in the world, to our spectators this year. As a top ten player he will be one of the top favourites at the German Open 2018 presented by Kampmann”.

“All you have to do is look at the list of winners: Laver, Roche, Vilas, Lendl, Stich, Rios, Federer, Nadal – some of the biggest names in tennis history are on it,” emphasizes Thiem, who failed in his only Rothenbaum start in the round of 16 to date due to the later winner Leonardo Mayer from Argentina. “And of course it would be a dream that my name would also appear on this list. Two years ago I unfortunately had to cancel at short notice because of an illness, so I am now all the more looking forward to Hamburg.” Thiem would be the first Austrian winner in the history of the German Open.

Dominic Thiem, who was nicknamed “Dominator” by Austrian media in reference to his first name, won his last title so far in February in Buenos Aires auf Sand. Finally, he had to take a break for more than a month due to an ankle joint injury. On his return to the ATP World Tour last week in Monte Carlo, he defeated Novak Djokovic, among others, before losing to eventual winner Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. Afterwards, the Spanish world number one once again emphasized: “Dominic is one of the best tennis players in the world. Especially on sand.”