Dominic Thiem: 'Novak Djokovic was the best I ever played'

[Djokodal]

karlovic, thiem, nishikori, isner, nadal and more have all said djokovic is the best player they have faced. it is not a coincidence.

 

[Nadalgaenger]

Answer makes perfect sense coming from Thiem. Djokovic at or near his best is probably the toughest for Thiem from a match up standpoint.

Exactly what I was thinking. Djokovic crowds the baseline and suffocates opponents with his groundstrokes. This is lethan to a guy like Thiem on a HC.
Fed is more vulnerable to Thiem’s Nadalian topspin, especially on the BH (at least in theory).
Thiem has already beaten Nadal a few times on clay and just needs to pull this off at the FO! He’s ready, willing, and able! (Wishful thinking, I know

 

[True Fanerer]

karlovic, thiem, nishikori, isner, nadal and more have all said djokovic is the best player they have faced. it is not a coincidence.

Nishikori and Isner? I don't remember that...

I think he's the one that a lot of the players look up to', Isner said about Federer. 'And to see him do so well, you know, at 36, again, he's so talented, and he's the greatest player we've ever had.

 

[jm1980]

Nishikori and Isner? I don't remember that...

Nishikori allegedly said "Federer and Nadal are good, but Djokovic is the most polished player I've played." I say "allegedly" because the only sources I can find for this statement are things like the express and clickbaitworldusa

I recall Isner saying Djokovic is the best returner he's ever faced. The only sources I could find for Isner saying Djokovic is the best player are again clickbaity garbage so you have to take it with a truckload of salt

 

[MeatTornado]

Fed is more vulnerable to Thiem’s Nadalian topspin, especially on the BH (at least in theory).

More like, less invulnerable.

Thiem really doesn't have a chance against any of these guys if they're playing well.

 

[True Fanerer]

Nishikori allegedly said "Federer and Nadal are good, but Djokovic is the most polished player I've played." I say "allegedly" because the only sources I can find for this statement are things like the express and clickbaitworldusa

I recall Isner saying Djokovic is the best returner he's ever faced. The only sources I could find for Isner saying Djokovic is the best player are again clickbaity garbage so you have to take it with a truckload of salt

Oh yeah, I remember the polished player thing now from the other day. Isner has said that about Djokovic too and it's hard to argue with that really. Agassi maybe better on 2nd serve returns, but Djokovic overall.

 

[3lite]

It's got to be so hard to answer these type of questions.

The difference between playing the all-time greats when they're on is negligible. It's not a matter of how much they dominate you, it's just a question of how they go about it. So I can see how peak Novak would be the most daunting for a ball-basher like Thiem since Novak's defense neutralizes his only weapon on all surfaces.

Not really.

It's quite easy to know when you've come across the very best of the best.