Dominic Thiem starts into his fifth US Open on Monday evening (4th match after 5pm in the LIVETICKER). In the opening round, he will meet the Bosnian Mirza Basic, who advanced into the top 100 of the world rankings for the first time this year – with the help of an exceptional environment.
Basic trains mainly in Sarajevo, where his older brother Damir supports him. They started playing tennis in their childhood, “because there was nothing else in Bosnia after the war,” Basic explains.
There was no infrastructure in his home country that would have enabled the sports enthusiast Basic to pursue a different discipline. That’s why five-year-old Mirza grabbed a tennis racket and never let it go.
Along with his brother, Basic relies on an unusual fitness coach: Ibrahim Krehic, a former basketball player and national hero of Bosnia, is responsible for his physical condition.
“Actually I am a basketball coach, then a football coach from time to time, I am also active in athletics,” Krehic told the Bosnian daily Oslobodenje. “Tennis comes in fourth.”
But with the success of the last months Basic’ the intensity of the cooperation increased, Krehic follows his protégé, who is currently the number 81 in the ATP ranking, as best he can. “Basic is constantly evolving, he is a correct boy. “But we shouldn’t fall too much into euphoria.”
Although both parents of Basic’ are successful doctors, it is still difficult for the second Bosnian tournament winner on the ATP tour to Damir Dzumhur to afford a professional life.
For this reason, too, it was important to him not to put all his eggs in one basket. Off tennis, Basic started a course of study: Mirza initially zealously pursued medicine with his parents, but has since switched to law.
“I think he hasn’t given it all in the past,” Krehic explains. “However, the success of the last few months has changed that. We measure his fitness values, strength, endurance and coordination are getting better and better. In tennis, physical preparation is half the battle.”
A collaboration with the Belgian foundation Hope & Spirit, which aims to reach an agreement between a professional career and an apprenticeship, is intended to help him achieve this goal.
The organisation develops tailor-made training plans for young people that are best suited to their everyday school or university life. Active ATP or WTA professionals are supported by Daniel Meyers, an experienced coach.
Steve Darcis, Ruben Bemelsmans or Stephane Robert, who knows Basic from regular training sessions, are some of the most prominent graduates of the cadre training centre. In winter, the Foundation organizes a multi-day performance camp in Abu Dhabi to prepare me for the following season.
Basic, formerly number five in the junior world rankings, follows a straightforward style of play that lacks great highlights. According to his own information, the serve is his favourite shot. On average, the 1.88-metre man beats around six aces per match in the current season and is thus ahead of Kei Nishikori or Rafael Nadal in these statistics.
His strongest shot is probably the backhand, with which he can usually keep opponents in cross duels in check. However, he lacks outstanding speed in his basic strokes.
Nevertheless, he managed his biggest success so far this February with his victory at the ATP-250 in Sofia. On his way to the title he eliminated Stan Wawrinka, among others, who was not in his best physical condition at that time.
In addition to the ATP title, Basic, double partner Dusan Lajovic is one of his best colleagues on the tour, has nine Challenger victories. He made his Davis Cup debut at the age of 15 and has since played 41 matches in international competitions.
With 27 victories, he played a decisive role in Bosnia-Herzegovina playing their way out of the third performance class into the Europe/Africa Group I in recent years.
However, his interests are somewhat extraordinary: Like his opponent on his US open debut, Basic is crazy about football, but he’s not keeping his fingers crossed for a traditional club, but is cheering for Manchester City. All in all, Basic should not become Thiem’s stumbling block.