By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, June 17, 2016
"I’m very impressed by his progress even though I’m not surprised," says Roger Federer of Dominic Thiem.
Photo credit: Paul Zimmer/Mercedes Cup
Dominic Thiem realized a dream fighting off a pair of match points defeating Roger Federer in the Stuttgart semifinals last weekend.
"I cannot believe it really," Thiem said afterward. "What a feeling especially on grass. It's absolutely a dream."
Thiem grew up on clay, but has grown into an all-surface player. The 22-year-old Thiem's rise doesn't surprise the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
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The seventh-ranked Austrian is the only man to win titles on three different surfaces this season. Federer, who has practiced with Thiem, views his break-out season as an impressive affirmation.
"I’m very impressed by his progress even though I’m not surprised because he did come to Zurich once and practiced with me as well," Federer told the media in Halle. "I think it was maybe last year and another time. And I was impressed there already how good and how big he could hit. So, for me it’s more of a confirmation really."
Jolting topspin groundstrokes, a crackling kick serve and his agility around the court form the foundation of Thiem's game. Thiem is 11th on the ATP in service games won this season (84 percent) and ranks 12th in return games won (26) percent.
The Roland Garros semifinalist, who prefers operating several feet behind the baseline which gives him time to unleash his sweeping swings, has tried adopting more aggressive court positioning for grass-court returns.
"He’s got a certain game that he can always go back to, that’s what we spoke about," Federer said. "He has a nice serve, big baseline game, he’s trying to adjust the right way on the grass on well and the return which is not an easy thing for him to do, it’s not natural, anyway it seems like it."
A streaking Thiem, who owns a 6-0 grass-court record this season, could face Federer for the fourth time this season, including a second grass-court clash, if both prevail in their Halle semifinals tomorrow.
Sporting a 47-11 singles record this season, Thiem has won 18 of his last 20 matches making the challenging transition from red clay to grass look routine. Thiem has also played 18 doubles matches in 2016, a dual workload that might even impress former iron horse Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
His appetite for match has translated to improved maturity.
"I spoke to him about his schedule coming up," Federer said of Thiem. "I think he knows what he’s doing. I think it’s unbelievable to see how he is backing it up. But I think he’s definitely playing with confidence right now. I saw especially in Stuttgart last week things were not good for him many many times and he stayed calm."