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Dominic Thiem Roland Garros 2020
Dominic Thiem, Tennis News, Tennis Players

‘It is time to be back,’ says Dominic Thiem ahead of Madrid return


World No 4 Dominic Thiem is hoping to kickstart his season on the clay surface in Madrid after a disappointing start to 2021. 

Thiem makes his return after a two month lay off following his opening defeat at the Dubai Championships, with the Austrian opting to ‘reset’ before further delaying his return due to not being at the required level.

“The break was good and I also needed it but now it is time to be back,” Thiem said during his pre-tournament press conference on Saturday.

“I think Madrid is a great place for me. I only have good memories of this tournament. Conditions are amazing for my game and my results in the past have always been so good. I’m happy to be back here and hope I can play well.”

The reigning US Open champion has had a lot of success at the Madrid Open having reached back-to-back finals in 2017 and 2018, where he fell short to Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev.

Although given his lack of match practice in recent weeks, Thiem is quietly confident that he will be back to the top sooner than later as he bids to find his best form ahead of Roland Garros.

“I was doing a lot of physical and tennis practice. I think I’m on a good level,” he stated.

“My goal is to get a lot of matches against top players until the French Open. It’s the same as every Grand Slam, it’s so tough to go deep and win it. But once I arrive at Roland Garros I want to be in the best shape and give myself the best chances.”

Dominic Thiem will kick off his Madrid campaign against a qualifier before a potential clash with Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.