The Austrian Dominic Thiem, champion of the United States Open in 2020, set as a “great goal” for this season, but also for his career, to win Roland Garros. In statements broadcast on Laureus.com, after his nomination in the category of revelation athlete, Dominic Thiem assured that “the biggest goal” for 2021 “is the French Open.”
“It is by far the tournament where I have had the best results in the past. And a long time ago I played the final in the junior event ten years ago, at 18 and 19 years old.. So after winning that first Grand Slam title (at the 2020 US Open), now it's my biggest goal and something I really want to achieve, “he remarked. Dominic Thiem commented that he likes to set himself “more short-term goals”, “But winning the French Open is something so great and so difficult to achieve” that it is actually a goal in his career as a professional tennis player.
“It is my biggest goal also for this year, but at the same time I know that everything has to work one hundred percent, otherwise it will not happen,” he said. The Austrian confessed, on the other hand, that winning in Paris will probably involve “having to eliminate Rafael Nadal”.
“What he's done in that tournament is probably one of the greatest achievements in the history of the sport, and I guess it's not over yet. I think last year he was already 34 years old and he played probably one of the best tournaments in history, so it's definitely the type to beat. Beating him on the center court at Roland Garros would be one of the greatest challenges in sport, so I would love to do it while he is still active, “Thiem wished when asked about the hierarchy of the Spanish on Parisian clay.
Against Rafa Nadal, thirteen times Roland Garros champion, he has already starred in two finals in France, in 2018 and 2019, and lost both. He also fell to Serbian Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open final. “I lost two French Open finals to the greatest clay court player in history, Nadal. I also lost the Australian Open final probably against the greatest hard court player in history, Djokovic, “Thiem analyzed.
“It's difficult to explain, but probably the pressure against Sasha was greater than against Nadal or Djokovic, because if you lose against them you can always say that I lost against one of the best players in history and that takes a little pressure off you, but there it was total and that's why it was a difficult situation not only for me but also for my opponent in the final, “he said about the US Open final that he won against German Alexander Zverev in 2020. “It was something unique for all the players because it was the first tournament for us without an audience, the first tournament for us in a bubble.So first I had to get used to it, which made me play better every day and that's why I was in the final again for the fourth time in a Grand Slam, “he said.
“For me it was an incredible pressure because I really wanted this great title. I was not playing very well and I was not feeling too good in the New York bubble, so it was amazing for me to experience how I turned things around. I didn't want to lose the final and basically lose everything one more time, so I built up a lot of pressure. That's what I felt during the first two sets, and I think everyone saw it; and then somehow I turned things around and it couldn't have been more exciting in the end, “he celebrated. “It was the first time since, I don't know, 60 years or something like that, that someone came back two sets in the US Open final and also one of the first times 7-6 was reached in the fifth set. A lot of special things happened that night, “Dominic Thiem stressed in a statement to Laureus.