Dominic Thiem has missed his tenth career title in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid. In the final, they lost 4:6, 4:6 against a powerful Alexander Zverev, which is why Austria’s act travels to Rome in a mixed mood.
“Two finals, that’s really fine,” said Thiem on Sunday evening, “but I just lost once this week. I don’t leave Madrid with the best feeling.”
At the beginning of the tournament week Thiem had a restrained start and increased from match to match. While he turned his back to the wall against Borna Coric in the round of 16, he showed concentration from the start against Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals and was able to stop the Spaniard with a perfect match plan after his 50 consecutive set wins on clay.
After Thiem also made a confident appearance against Kevin Anderson in the semi-final, he went into a duel with Zverev as an easy favourite for many. However, the 24-year-old was not able to tap his full potential there as in the two previous matches.
“That was my problem,” said Thiem, who was not satisfied with his returns. “He served no better than Anderson. I had a lot of returns on the bat, but I played them back too easy. That put him right on the offensive.”
It was remarkable that Thiem had to accept a loss of serve in the first game of both sets. At the beginning of the match he was a little nervous, as “such a finale is no ordinary thing for him”. To have to hit with a tail wind irritated him a little. “That was certainly the first step into the misery,” Thiem admitted with a tricky smile.
In the end, however, he also had a lot of praise for his conqueror. Apart from Nadal and Federer, Zverev is currently the best player on the tour. “His results are consistent, which is impressive,” Thiem said, but noted that at the French Open the cards are being reshuffled: “Of course it’s different about best-of-five. But one thing is for sure: he will soon get far at a Grand Slam.”
Thiem has once again found his way back on the road to success in Madrid. After the second Masters final of his career – the second on clay – the two-time French Open semi-finalist did not want to be labelled as pure specialists on the red ashes.
“I also love the other rubbers,” said Thiem, who won the first ATP 500 title of his career in Acapulco on Hartplatz. Even Nadal would reduce many to his performances on clay, said the world ranking night since Monday, although the Mallorcan can show two Wimbledon and three US Open titles.
“It’s similar with me, even if on a much smaller stage,” Thiem, who doesn’t like to hear the word “sand court specialist”, emphasized with a smile.
Already on Tuesday Thiem will have his first appearance on the next big stage. At the Masters of Rome he will compete in doubles together with the US-American Steve Johnson. In the first round, he will immediately face the final opponent of Madrid against the Zverev brothers.
Thiem is confident about the next tasks. “This week was very important. I haven’t had any great results in the last few weeks. In Madrid I found my fullest self-confidence again, although I lost,” said Thiem.
And continues: “I have the feeling that I have many matches in my own hands on sand.” Only against Nadal he has to show his best tennis and hope that the new number two in the world will not catch his best day to beat him.
“But this week I have seen that I have it in my own hand against everyone else. That’s good to know.” Thiem now has it in his own hands to win another match against Nadal. The two were drawn into the same quarter again in Rome. As in Madrid, the quarter-final duel could take place in the Italian capital.