Round of 16 at the Challenger in Salzburg, quarter-finals in Baastad, semi-finals in Gstaad. With his third quarter-finals on the ATP Tour en suite in Kitzbühel, Dominic Thiem has further confirmed his upward trend. If the former world number three prevails against Yannick Hanfmann (ATP-140.) on Friday (not before 3 p.m.), he will stalk the top 150 again. If he succeeds in the not impossible title, the current number 199 in the world will scratch the top 100 return again.
A key to this in the past few weeks has also been many matches that have been narrowly won, in some cases by defending against match points or set points. “You have to honestly say that many matches went in my direction, which could just as well have gone in the wrong direction,” Thiem knows that he was lucky sometimes. Much more important for him is his physical condition despite the efforts of the past weeks. “The good thing is that physically everything fits, including the wrist. First time so many matches in a row and it keeps getting better instead of worse. That’s a very good sign,” he said happily. Here are the best pictures of the game: Support from the box Supported by his bench with coach Nicolas Massu, manager Galo Blanco, brother Moritz, his mother and also his girlfriend Lili Paul-Roncalli, Thiem hopes that the Kitzbühel trip will continue on Thursday. Incidentally, Thiem does not rate the coaching that has recently been allowed on a test basis, which by the way can only be one-sided – i.e. no conversation – that much.” Not much has changed. If we’re honest, everyone has always coached it, just hidden,” he said with a smile. “Now you can do it openly.” This was also punished by the ATP in the past.
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