ATP: Coach Galo Blanco praises “nerd” Dominic Thiem: “It’s easy to work with him”.

Coach Galo Blanco has praised his protégé Dominic Thiem in the highest notes. The Spaniard is the second coach of the world ranked seventh after Günter Bresnik. Blanco values the “Dominator” above all for its work attitude and pressure resistance.

Dominic Thiem obviously felt at home in the “Team Espana” at the Players Night in Madrid. Together with sand court king Rafal Nadal and veteran Feliciano Lopez he had himself photographed several times on the red carpet. And the trio had also reached an almost perfect fashion agreement. Thiem classically opted for a completely black wardrobe, while white shirts served as eye-catchers for “Rafa” and “Feli”.

Spanish society has long been familiar to Thiem. Also because Galo Blanco from Oviedo has been part of his team of coaches around head coach Günter Bresnik for several months. 41-year-old Blanco, once number 40 in the ATP ranking, has now praised his protégé at the Mutua Madrid Open.

“It’s easy to work with him because he’s a hard worker. He has no problem spending the time on the court to improve. And he is open to everything,” said Blanco in an interview on the homepage of the ATP 1000 event in the Spanish metropolis about 24-year-old Thiem.

Blanco is convinced that the man from Lichtenwörth is relatively pressure-resistant and is more interested in the big picture than in being driven mad by isolated defeats. And again training diligence comes into play: “He always tries to improve further. And if you do your job well, it’s only a matter of time before the results come in. Even if you don’t know when that will be,” explained Blanco, who once also looked after Milos Raonic, Jürgen Melzer, Elias Ymer and Karen Khachanov.

But Thiem, one of the most diligent trainers at the Caja Mágica sports complex these days, still has some expectations. The Lower Austrian knows that he has many points to defend until June. A consequence of his strong 2017 clay court season, in which he reached the finals in Barcelona and Madrid – and then advanced to the semi-finals in Rome and at the French Open in Paris.

After surviving ankle wounds, the “Dominator” still lacked constancy in recent weeks. He recently lost 3-6, 2-6 to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the quarter-finals in Barcelona.

For many, Thiem has long been considered the heir to the throne of Sandplatz king Nadal – not least for Rafa’s uncle Toni Nadal. You can’t get more honor…!!!!

“Dominic is one of the best players on ashes. And he’s one of the youngest on the circuit. That’s why it makes sense,” said Blanco about Nadal’s successor discussion at the “terre battue”. But the Thiem coach also pointed out: “There are other players on their way up. Even if they haven’t got there yet, they could be in a few years.”

The draw for the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid has positioned Dominic Thiem in a quarter with Rafael Nadal. As in the Monte Carlo tournament, the two clay court specialists could meet in the quarter-finals. In the first round, the fifth seeded Thiem has a walk-through, in his opening match he meets Mischa Zverev (Hamburg) or a qualifier.