Dominic Thiem: ‘I played well against a great champion, but I need to improve to go further’
Dominic Thiem says he needs to improve on his third round win over Marin Cilic if he is to win the US Open, but he’s still happy with what he produced.
The second seed overcame a third-set blip against the 2014 champion to set up a fourth-round clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
It came after he raced into a two-set lead without barely being challenged by the Croatian.
However, after fending off an attempted comeback, Dominic Thiem knows he must find more in his game in the second week.
“Today was a good match against a great champion,” Thiem told reporters. “First two sets came pretty easy.
“I think he came out a little bit slow also because of the tough matches he had in the opening rounds. He gave me some little mistakes.
I had luck that I was breaking him in the opening games of the first two sets, which always helps a lot against these big servers.
“Then he raised his level a lot in sets three and four. Good tennis, very close. It probably would have gone to a fifth when I don’t save these breakpoints at I think was two-all.
“In general was a good, close match. I’m happy. But, yeah, of course I have to improve to get the chance to get further.
- Join the tennishead CLUB and receive £250/$350 of FREE GEAR including ASICS Gel-Resolution 8 trainers, shorts, shirt & socks
- Keep up to date with the breaking news & tennis action at our tennis news section
- Win amazing prizes by entering our competitions
- Learn more about your favourite players including Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic
- Check out the latest tennis equipment with our tennis gear reviews
- Receive regular updates in our legendary free newsletter
- Read in depth features with stunning photography in tennishead magazine
- Can’t visit the tournaments you love? Check out our guide on how to watch tennis on TV
- Don’t miss a thing with our Live Scores service
- Follow tennishead on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube
- EXCLUSIVE 5% DISCOUNT for all tennishead readers on tennis rackets, balls, clothing, shoes & accessories with All Things Tennis, our dedicated tennis gear partner