Dominic Thiem will be playing in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bércy on Wednesday. Two days earlier, the Austrian had extended his contract with racket supplier Babolat for six years. Try a conversation.
Dominic Thiem will continue to work with a Babolat racket for the next six years. The contract will be signed during a press conference and the official language will be English. Present at the Pullman Hotel in Paris are primarily French journalists, time is short.
The French edition of the tennis magazine is granted 20 minutes in words and pictures. Then the Austrian number one signs the grip straps – which, however, are firmly attached to the Babolat Pure Strike, making the play equipment unsuitable for everyday use. But at least to refine to a collector’s item.
Dominic Thiem knows that Babolat originally only made strings, and Lichtenwörther usually used hybrid strings on his rackets. Quickly a few questions …
tennisnet: Mr. Thiem. You told me a few years ago that you don’t change your racket automatically when new balls come into play. Has there been any change in this strategy?
Dominic Thiem: No, not really. I change to sand more often because I don’t want to risk the string breaking during a ball change. On sand I play in about 45 minutes, on hardcourt it can get twice as long, because the string doesn’t wear off.
tennisnet: Does this mean that changing clubs for new balls primarily has a psychological component? Maybe the difference isn’t really that big?
Thiem: Not for me, but every player is different. Personally, I don’t like it so much when I’m used to the grip, when the bat is really good in the hand – and then I take a new one.
tennisnet: At the NextGen-Masters in Milan new things are tried once again. The same goes for the introduction of a towel rail. Any good ideas?
Thiem: I think it’s actually good, almost the perfect solution. Of course, you have to be careful not to lose time. You can’t do without a towel either, in certain places like South America, Australia or the US Open you sweat so much that you can’t do without a towel. On the other hand, I absolutely agree that the prom kids shouldn’t do this. What’s that sweaty towel to carry us for? That’s why I think the towel rail is the perfect solution. But the referees must also have a bit of instinct. And do not issue a warning immediately after 20 seconds.
tennisnet: What do you know more than we do about the current state of health of Juan Martin del Potro?
Thiem: Well, yes, privately I have no contact with him …
tennisnet: … but players are certainly talking about whether del Potro will be fit for London.
Thiem: I heard he wasn’t there. But I’m also the one who knows best that you can never be sure at del Potro.
More is not possible on this Monday afternoon, because the circle is getting smaller now. Only Eric Babolat and his closest colleagues, Dominic Thiem and Günter Bresnik, remain in the conference hall: a new racket is presented. Still too hot for the general public.