For Thiem, Big Victories Are No Surprise

Dominic Thiem enjoyed one of the biggest wins of his career on Wednesday by defeating Novak Djokovic for the first time in six attempts in their Roland Garros quarter-final. But while the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd may have been shocked, the outcome was perfectly logical for the Austrian.

“I didn’t play a different game style. I just had a positive winner-error statistic today,” said Thiem. “That’s very important because I think that was never the case against him before.”

The 23 year old has been in top form throughout this tournament, cruising into the final four without the loss of a set. Although the run can already be considered one of the best results of his career, Thiem said his main focus now is avoiding a letdown.

“I have always played a much worse match the following day if I beat a top guy,” said Thiem. “I hope I can improve that.”

.@ThiemDomi downs defending champion Djokovic to reach the #RG17 SFs!
Dominic Thiem fait tomber le champion en titre ! pic.twitter.com/U9iKJWbT7k

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 7, 2017

Thiem experienced this the hard way after handing Rafael Nadal his only loss on clay this season in the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Mentally and physically depleted, he came back on court 24 hours later against Djokovic and only won a single game.

This time, the situation was reversed. After defeating Djokovic, Thiem will play Nadal for a chance to reach his first Grand Slam final. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 4-2, but the pair have already played three times this year. Nadal defeated Thiem in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Mutua Madrid Open finals before Thiem turned the tables in Rome.

With all six of their meetings coming on clay, there will be no surprises for either player when they take the court again on Friday.

“It’s great for me to be in the semi-finals again and defend that [from last year]. The toughest opponent ever here in Roland Garros is coming on Friday, though. It’s going to be the fourth match against him in five or six weeks, so there aren’t any secrets,” said Thiem. “He’s in his best shape. It’s going to be the toughest match you can imagine.”

The Austrian is quickly adapting to his relatively new role as a contender for major titles. Thiem consistently found himself in the final weekend of ATP World Tour 250 events last year, but is now accomplishing this in 500-level and Masters 1000 events in 2017. The breakthrough achievements of last year are now results that he knows he can accomplish.

However, Thiem said that he will need to find another gear if he is win to his first Grand Slam title.

“Everything was a new sensation for me last year. I could only win, basically. I think it was a little bit more difficult this year,” said Thiem. “I wasn’t satisfied with the semis last year, but it was still amazing for me. This year, of course I didn’t expect it, but I wanted to go deep. It’s a very different mindset.

“It’s a joke how tough it is to win a slam,” he added. “I beat Novak. On Friday, it’s Nadal. In the final, there is another top star. That’s why it’s a Grand Slam, because winning one is such a tough achievement.”

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