Dominic Thiem has finally arrived in Kitzbühel. At the big press conference at the Generali Open 2018 the Austrian clearly formulated: “The tournament victory is to come.
By Jens Huiber from Kitzbühel
The Sky Bar in the VIP area of the Generali Open is generously laid out, offering views of all relevant mountain formations of the Kitzbühel Alps. When Dominic Thiem, the number one of the tournament, asks for a press event, it gets tight on the feudal balcony.
In addition to the print journalists, TV and radio stations, tournament director Alex Antonitsch and Davis Cup boss Stefan Koubek will not miss Thiem’s first official appearance in Kitzbühel. The 24-year-old from Lichtenwörth has already completed two training sessions and the next lesson is just after the journalists’ round.
In Hamburg, Thiem was eliminated in the quarter-finals on Friday against Nicolas Jarry, but three days later he still attests to a really bad performance. And yet he could have turned the match in his favor. Dominic Thiem sees this in turn as positive.
It was already clear that he wanted to win at the cap field. But that generally applies to all tournaments in which Dominic Thiem starts.
The return to Kitzbühel was very easy for him, according to the French Open finalist. The plan to prepare for the Canada Masters in Washington did not bear fruit in 2017. In addition, the tournament in the U.S. capital was, in his view, rather modest overall. The feel-good factor is significantly higher in Europe, especially in Kitzbühel.
Quite in contrast to Kitzbühel. Thiem feels comfortable here, also playfully. This applies to him, but also to players like Philipp Kohlschreiber. Those who do not like the conditions are “not there anyway,” says Thiem. The goal is, of course, to win the tournament, in Kitzbühel as well as in Vienna, the Austrian double still has to be achieved. Thiem was closest to Thiem in Kitzbühel in 2014, when he lost to David Goffin after winning the first set.
Two years later Thiem had a match point with Dennis Novak to win the doubles tournament, in the current draw the two buddies are represented again. Thiem considers the first-round task against Roberto Carballes Baena and Jaume Munar feasible, after which Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner could wait. Two veterans Dominic Thiem likes very much.
Thiem may not really believe in a repeat of the run in 2016, when everything really went in her direction. Thiem/Novak came into the final through an orgy of match tiebreaks, which they narrowly lost to Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop.
By the way, Dennis Novak has to leave on Monday evening. Against Yuri Rodionov. Thiem has not seen much of this yet, but is generally happy about Austrian successes like that of Sebastian Ofner in Astana. However, there would be very clear preferences in the match against Novak – in favour of his double partner.
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