Dominic Thiem has arrived well in Paris. Before his first appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bércy, Thiem announced at a press conference with company boss René Babolat and coach Günter Bresnik the extension of the contract by a further six with the French manufacturer.
By Jens Huiber from Paris
Vienna or Paris – that didn’t make much difference for Dominic Thiem, at least with regard to the weather. On Friday, the Austrian number one was eliminated in the Vienna Stadthalle, outside the wind whistled through the alleys, the wintry wind. This is no different in Paris, it would be even nicer if autumn didn’t finally come at the end of October.
In terms of sport, Thiem only completed one training session on Monday, and the 25-year-old has a walk-through as number six in the tournament. For Thiem, the weekly kick-off was more a press conference given by his club supplier Babolat in the Pullman Hotel, which is within call distance of the tournament hall. Thiem has been playing for the French brand for four years now, the new contract comes into force at the beginning of 2019 and lasts until the end of 2024.
Eric Babolat, the boss himself, had invited himself to a small panel discussion with Thiem and his coach Günter Bresnik. Paris is a good place for this, Dominic Thiem’s greatest career success comes with his entry into the final of the French Open in June this year.
It was much easier for Monsieur Babolat to overcome the defeat of the Lower Austrian than for Thiem. On the other side of the net was Rafael Nadal, the French racket manufacturer’s biggest figurehead. What do the two Roland Garros finalists have in common? The unruly fighting spirit, says Eric Babolat. In fact, Dominic Thiem would serve as a role model for young French players, after all, the Lichtenwörther would not give up a match.
Thiem will meet an older Frenchman in Paris-Bércy in his first match – either Lucas Pouille or Gilles Simon. Only on Wednesday, however, Simon, who had challenged Roger Federer in Basel last week, and Pouille will play only on Tuesday.
Traditionally, his company relied on Power, said Eric Babolat, the company boss, the racket with which Dominic Thiem plays, the Pure Strike, but also offers control. Because the Austrian brings clout with him anyway. At the beginning of the cooperation there was only one problem, Günter Bresnik explained again: Dominic Thiem fell in love with the racquet after only a few minutes: “That of course weakened our negotiating position extremely.
Nevertheless, Babolat and the Austrian number one have found each other. Even if Thiem’s demands remain very special. He’d never played Rafael Nadal’s bat before. “If I were to try, most of the balls would probably end up in the back of the fence.”