Best cooling after a hot training session: A jump into the Schwarzsee. That’s what Dominic Thiem and Dennis Novak thought last night, who will be in doubles tomorrow, Tuesday.
In 2016, the two mates just missed the tournament win, tomorrow they will meet the Spaniards Carballes Baena and Munar: “Dennis and I were pretty happy two years ago, but the first round is definitely feasible, then we could meet Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner. That would be a big deal, because I like all three very much. It would be extremely fun to have this duel,” says Thiem.
While Novak will meet Yuri Rodionov today in the main match of the day (not before 5 pm), Austria’s number one in tennis will enter the tournament on Wednesday (not before 6 pm): “I came here on Saturday and feel extremely comfortable again. How could it be otherwise, Kitzbühel is one of the most beautiful places”, says Thiem, who suggests that the tournament in Gamsstadt could again take up a fixed point in his calendar: “To be completely honest, Europe is simply so much more beautiful, especially of course Kitzbühel. “Sure, it’s a tight program, but I’ll certainly play on sand in Europe rather than in America.”
Since Thomas Muster’s victory in Kitzbühel in 1993, Thiem now wants to add his own chapter to this story: “Surely the title is the goal, otherwise I would lie. Of course, the pressure will be greater if the tournament takes place in Austria, but I hope that I can use the atmosphere and the audience positively to achieve this goal in the end,” says Thiem, who is serving in the Gamsstadt for the eighth time.
“I watched the tournament on TV when I was nine, I was there for the first time when I won two tickets and watched the final of Gaston Gaudio against Fernando Verdasco. Something really happened, I remember it as beautiful. In 2010 I started playing myself. Together with Vienna, Kitzbühel definitely has the biggest place in the heart.”