Dominic Thiem had kinked in the press conference after his injury-related task in the first round of Wimbledon against Marcos Baghdatis (4:6, 5:7, 0:2). But the French open finalist was also able to gain something positive from the setback.
By Ulrike Weinrich from Wimbledon
“What happened, how did you get the back injury?”
Dominic Thiem: “I slipped in the first set and it crushed me. After that, my upper back hurt. And that slowly got worse and worse in the course of the match. I was able to serve more slowly. In the third set I got the physio, but that didn’t really help either. It didn’t make sense to finish the game.”
“How serious is the wound?”
Dominic Thiem: “I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It wasn’t a sudden pain, it got worse and slower. I had cervical problems once or twice when I was younger. But I think this time it’s more muscular and comes from the fall.”
Question: “In the past few days you have said that you have trained well on grass. How disappointed are you now?”
Dominic Thiem: “I can say that even without pain it would have been very difficult to win today. Of course it’s bitter, but Wimbledon is certainly my weakest Grand Slam. Then a lot can always happen – positive or negative. This time it was just negative. “It’s more bearable for me than the other slams.”
Question: “Is the frustration greater when you have to give up – or when you lose?”
Dominic Thiem: “Giving up always sucks. For yourself, but also for your opponent, because you somehow take away his sense of victory. I didn’t want to give up, no way. But on the other hand, it wouldn’t have helped to finish the game. That would have been just a mockery of myself, a mockery of the opponent and a mockery of the audience. That’s why I ended it. Still, every time you give up a match, it’s still a shitty feeling.”
Question: “Are your next tournament starts in danger?”
Dominic Thiem: “No, they are certainly not in danger. For the next tournaments it might even be better if I have a little break. In the second half of the year I have a pretty tight plan again. It is the first time that I can prepare myself well for Hamburg and Kitzbühel. Therefore, there may even be a small advantage…”
Question: “Your pal Dennis Novak has reached the second round as qualifier and will play the Frenchman Lucas Pouille on Wednesday. Are you in contact with Dennis here, too?”
Dominic Thiem: “We always have contact. That he won is a great thing, I’m so happy for him. And I think that his journey here is not yet over, and he has a good chance against Pouille.”
“Will you watch his match on Wednesday?”
Dominic Thiem: “If I’m not flying home yet, I’ll take a look.”
Question: “You mentioned the second half of the tournament. Is the primary goal to qualify again for the ATP finals in London?”
Dominic Thiem: “I only have half of that in mind. If I play halfway normal and nothing bad happens, I should be able to do it. 4000 points will be at least necessary to get to London. And I’ll make sure of that, but that’s not the primary target now.”
Question: “But…?”
Dominic Thiem: “Last year it was okay until the US Open, but after that I only won two matches. I want to do better so that I can play well until the end of the season. Especially in tennis and performance – and not like last year, when things were really bad. Also for this reason it’s probably not bad that I have a little time now…”
Question: “After the lost Roland Garros final against Rafael Nadal, you only relaxed for a few days. Have you started too soon?”
Dominic Thiem: “I definitely question whether my start in Halle/Westphalia was intelligent. It must have come too soon. Rafa also moved out of Queens, that would have been smarter for me, too. I’ve learned that for the next few years…”