Thiem threatens case from the top ten

Thiem tormented a stubborn virus in the run-up to the Toronto Masters 1000 tournament. The result was a two-set defeat in the second round against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who avoided all the top ten players on his way to the last game. When Thiem did not feel any better in Cincinnati, he retired from the tournament just before his first appearance. Günter Bresnik is in ninth place in the world rankings, who again threw balls for the first time on Sunday, these days with a careful start of the training back to competitive tennis.

Thiem is not the only one in the ÖTV camp that struck before the start of the US Open. Qualifier Dennis Novak finished his day with one day and Sebastian Ofner flew to the United States last Friday. They were in qualifying today (Tuesday). Thiem has at least until Monday, before he takes it seriously for the first time.

Of course, the full recovery in the foreground, even at the US Open, you will not compete at any price. Nevertheless, Austrian tenfold tournament winner since Roland Garros, where he has ever shown his best tennis on several occasions, is anything but convincing: still tired of Paris in Halle after a win, injured in the first round at Wimbledon in the background. Then, after two victories in Hamburg, he lost in the quarterfinals in two tight Tiebreaks and top set in Kitzbühel, followed by a thin start, as was the case in Toronto. The bare numbers: only three wins in five tournaments.

World Tour Finals still within reach

The fact that Thiem is slowly losing ground in the ranking is a logical consequence. If Thiem can not make the turnaround in Vlissingen Meadows, he is the first failure from the top ten since 6.6.2016. His coach Günter Bresnik does not like such announcements. "That happens one time, these are all things that I should not deal with, a normal person does not look in the rearview mirror, which runs away in front, I'm not a back-viewer," Bresnik said before moving to the US in the APA call.

Thiem will not be among the top 8 players in the draw for the last Grand Slam tournament on Thursday (20.00 CEST) as current number 9 for the first time at a time. He has collected 3,005 points so far this year, exactly 530 more than a year ago, putting him in fourth place in fourth place. The train on the way to third place at the ATP World Tour Finals in London en suite is far from exhausted. Even at an early stage in New York, where a decrease from the year before 180 for a round of sixteen points came from the ATP rating throughout the year, not.

After Flushing Meadows Thiem will have the plans for the home Davis Cup in Graz against Australia from 14 to 16 September. He then plays in St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Vienna and Paris-Bercy. Bresnik also considers a recent Masters participation as "not excluded". "The conditions are that he plays well in these four tournaments, because he has to play very well." Finally, there are people who are still coming behind his protégé. Most recently, for example, David Goffin, Grigor Dimitrow, not to mention the young Greek star Tsitsipas. Even a John Isner could score well at the US Open.

Father Wolfgang Thiem only follows the events from a distance. "You have to see how weekly training works and how it develops, and that he is not one hundred percent together is clear," Thiem senior told APA.

Despite the losing streak, the question arises whether travel tensions, including jet lag, do not influence his son more often than others. For example, at the beginning of the year in Australia or in the past at the end of the season, he was often cooled. 2016 Thiem for the 1000-tournament in Shanghai, 2017 for the 1000 in Paris-Bercy. "He is someone who is very susceptible to such flu infections, he has always been," says Wolfgang Thiem. "He has his cold two, three times a year, which usually falls in October or November, as it is now, but rather unusual." In short, you do not have to read anything.

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