Dominic Thiem has kept a cool head in the Melbourne glowing oven: the Austrian only took a two-set backlog for the second time in his career and is in the third round of the Happy Slam.
From Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne
At the end of a remarkable day, Dominic Thiem had a good laugh. The 24-year-old said the funniest statement was really serious:”I always shower warm, and that’s what I did after the match today. Because I hate ice baths,”Thiem said just under an hour after 6:7 (6:8), 3:6,6:3,6:3,6:2,6:3 in the five-set thriller against qualifier Denis Kudla from the USA.
A habit that needs getting used to – this thing with the mild showers in continuous loop. Considering that the emotional roller coaster ride in the Margaret Court Arena lasted not only 3:48 hours, but also took place at extreme temperatures of up to 39 degrees Celsius,”The conditions today were already very tough,”said Thiem, who will face Adrian Mannarino in Saturday’s round of the last sixteen. The “Dominator” has an impeccable record of 6-0 victories against the Frenchman, who finished 26th.
Thiem does not want to take the coming opponent lightly, despite the clear-cut statistics. I didn’t feel ideal and had my problems just at the beginning,”reported the world number five. Thiem also had an explanation ready for Thiem:”I sometimes get caught up with jet lag, even if I’ve been somewhere for a week or a week and a half”.
The two-time French Open semi-finalist wants to prepare himself for the next task with plenty of sleep, intensive physio Alex Stober’s care and a relaxed workout on an even hotter Friday (41 degrees Celsius). Thiem expects that he will suffer from muscle ache the day after his hard-fought victory. In his career, the Lichtenwörther has not yet played so many five-match games. At the Happy Slam Down Under it was even his debut over the full distance.
And the youngster fought his way back impressively after the sensitive backlog:”I always stayed positive, because I had my chances in the first two sets as well,”Thiem said. Knowing that the world rankings 190. Kudla had a very strong day.
Two days after his sensational “Tweener” in the opening match against Guido Pella (Argentina),”Magic” Thiem kicked off his chase with a 5-3 break in the third set. In total, he managed 21 aces. While Kudla physically and psychologically disintegrated in the Melbourne stove, the favourite grabbed his opportunities in the style of a world-class player. The roller coaster ride with Thiem as captain in the cockpit found a happy end.
The Austria star, who has never before been as high on a Grand Slam event as he was this time (No. 5), was overjoyed to be celebrated by the fans after the encounter, while coach Günter Bresnik also looked relieved in the pits. In the summer of 2016, Thiem had failed with a major in the second round. Since then, he had been in the quarter-finals and semi-finals four times at major level.
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