|
Thiem broke the Grand Slam stranglehold of
Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic by winning the 2020
U.S. Open but the injury sidelined him for months and other
niggles saw him slip down the rankings to number 352 last June.
After a first-round exit at the Australian Open in January, and
disappointing performances in the tournaments that followed,
Thiem made the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open and beat
Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-4 in his opener in Monaco.
"Some positive signs happened already in Estoril and today
(Monday), I had the feeling that I was doing from time to time
good damage with both forehand and backhand," said Thiem, who
next plays Holger Rune.
"The power wasn't there last year even when I started to win
matches and played better. In the inner season the power wasn't
there yet. Also maybe not in the beginning of the year.
"In the last month it's coming back, especially in practice. The
shots are there, the power is there like before, but I was using
it wrong. There's full trust again in the wrist and the
forehand."
A return to top form on clay would be an encouraging sign for
the world number 106 ahead of the French Open, where he reached
the final in 2018 and 2019 before losing to Nadal on both
occasions.
After announcing at the weekend he had split with coach Nicolas
Massu, Thiem has joined up with Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh and hopes
the partnership will bear fruit.
"There wasn't a lot of time," Thiem said. "I needed a coach
right away so we decided to start the relationship and give it a
try."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru;Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
