Thiem Hopes to Get on Track with Massu at Indian Wells

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Thiem Hopes to Get on Track with Massu at Indian Wells

Dominic Thiem hopes Nicolas Massu can help him continue to elevate his hard-court game. The Austrian, ranked No.8 in the world, has been slow out of the gates on all surfaces this year, playing at a 3-4 clip and losing after retiring in the third set of his second round match at the Australian Open to 19-year-old Alexei Popyrin.

Thiem and Massu met at the Davis Cup tie between Argentina and Chile last month, then spent time together at Buenos Aires.

Thiem’s best result was at the Argentina Open where he reached the quarter-finals, but even then he looked out of sorts and fell to Diego Schwartzman, ending his reign as two-time champion and snapping his 11-match winning streak at Buenos Aires.

Thiem hopes that adding the former Olympic Gold Medalist and World No.9 to his team can help bring more success on hardcourts. To be fair, the Austrian has been on a slow but steady rise on the surface. He reached the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open last year and also won a title on indoor hardcourts at St. Petersburg in October.

“There are many things he can bring to my game,” said Thiem, according to ATPWorldTour.com. “He preferred playing on clay, but his biggest success came on a fast hard court at the [2004 Athens] Olympics. He knows what it means to feel at home on clay, but transfer good results to a hard court. That’s one of the things we expect from the relationship.”

Thiem has been struggling with health issues as well. He pulled out of his loss to Popyrin, saying he felt ill, and then he skipped Austria’s Davis Cup tie before returning to the tour in Buenos Aires.

He has spent lots of time at Indian Wells, coming to the site early to rest, recuperate and practice.

“I’ve been here since almost two weeks,” said Thiem. “It was a great time to really get healthy again, to get the fitness which is required for the matches and I think I’m ready to finally start the season here.” Thiem will face Jordan Thompson in his second-round match on Sunday at Indian Wells.

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