Thiem Taking It to the Top I Tell Ya

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thiem's start to 2017 seems a bit lackluster, but many positive signs for Thiem who has added 70 ranking points so far this year:

1. Routinely serving in excess of 220 kph – this is a big change from 2016 where Thiem usually used a big kicker for most of his serves with an occasional bomb. First serve points won on the increase.:p

2. Thiem is noticeably stronger and has more stamina – look for Thiem to beast up for years to come so slowly Thiem will improve especially at holding serve with a stronger attacking game (Thiem saved two games from 0-40 with Paire, and completely beasted out of one with Goffin at Auz Open.:eek:)

3. Thiem backhand – more consistent and powerful. One area that he has improved over his best in 2016.:D

4. Thiem forehand – it’s pretty much back in form and Thiem is able to beast it much more often.

Thiem negatives:

1. The Thiem return game with its big improvement on first return in 2016 has stalled. Thiem is still quite weak against the biggest servers like Raonic or Tsonga.:(

2. Thiem speed has stalled. Thiem has reached his physical speed max. No more magic increases in his overall game.:confused:

Summary:

Thiem will slowly improve his strength and stamina for years to come and steadily climb the rankings. Thiem the beast will emerge. Thiem may be able to excel on grass this year, but majors on clay and hard courts will be a big asks as the Thiem game will exhaust him before tournament end.
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Thiem will maintain his ranking after the Australia swing moving up 90 points and maintaining 8th in the world unless Dimitrov wins Auz Open, Tsonga makes final, or Goffin makes final. Cilic is a scant 55 points ahead of Thiem after Auz.

The following table shows the point makeup of Thiem's ranking and a forecast for 2017 (will be updated periodically). Despite winning Rio and its 500 points, Thiem is down 135 points since the Australian Open and can only gain back 100 of those points by defending his title in Acapulco. Thiem is likely to maintain an 8 seed for clay season where this will garner him much needed byes at the three ATP masters 1000 clay events where Thiem is poised to add 170 points to his ranking before the French Open and maintain an 8th seed. Thiem could easily slide lower with very poor performances or injury, but Thiem's ranking is well insulated with two ATP 250 finals not even in his current rankings count. Thiem could easily go on a run at an ATP 1000 or more and boost his ranking nicely.o_O
ThiemRanking.png

Thiem unlikely to defend his SF at French Open, but he's defending little in the way of points for the rest of the season, so he'll have a great chance to move back up to top 8 for WTF.:cool:

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Skeletroll

Rookie
Thiem is only top ten because of then absurd amount of tournaments he plays that inflate his points. He will never be a top 3 much less win a slam
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
LOL @Meles , you should be admired for your perseverance in keeping the Thiem-Hype-Train rollin'.

I hope you're right, though. ;)
I'm much more guarded these days. I pretty much am saying he's stalling out in the rankings for year, but should hold onto a WTF spot.:D The old Thiem thread got buried in pro match results. Letting the natives in General Pro chime in and maybe this can stay in general pro if Thieministas don't go reporting match results right away.:confused:
 

reaper

Legend
Thiem's start to 2017 seems a bit lackluster, but many positive signs for Thiem who has added 70 ranking points so far this year:

1. Routinely serving in excess of 220 kph – this is a big change from 2016 where Thiem usually used a big kicker for most of his serves with an occasional bomb. First serve points won on the increase.:p

2. Thiem is noticeably stronger and has more stamina – look for Thiem to beast up for years to come so slowly Thiem will improve especially at holding serve with a stronger attacking game (Thiem saved two games from 0-40 with Paire, and completely beasted out of one with Goffin at Auz Open.:eek:)

3. Thiem backhand – more consistent and powerful. One area that he has improved over his best in 2016.:D

4. Thiem forehand – it’s pretty much back in form and Thiem is able to beast it much more often.

Thiem negatives:

1. The Thiem return game with its big improvement on first return in 2016 has stalled. Thiem is still quite weak against the biggest servers like Raonic or Tsonga.:(

2. Thiem speed has stalled. Thiem has reached his physical speed max. No more magic increases in his overall game.:confused:

Summary:

Thiem will slowly improve his strength and stamina for years to come and steadily climb the rankings. Thiem the beast will emerge. Thiem may be able to excel on grass this year, but majors on clay and hard courts will be a big asks as the Thiem game will exhaust him before tournament end.
920x920.jpg


Thiem will maintain his ranking after the Australia swing moving up 90 points and maintaining 8th in the world unless Dimitrov wins Auz Open, Tsonga makes final, or Goffin makes final. Cilic is a scant 55 points ahead of Thiem after Auz.

The following table shows the point makeup of Thiem's ranking and a forecast for 2017 (will be updated periodically). It shows Thiem gaining points with a Rio final (depleted field), but net 200 points down after Acapulco where Thiem defends the title against a burgeoning field including Raonic and Nadal.:eek: Thiem is likely to maintain an 8 seed for clay season where this will garner him much needed byes at the three ATP masters 1000 clay events where Thiem is poised to add 170 points to his ranking before the French Open and maintain an 8th seed. Thiem could easily slide lower with very poor performances or injury, but Thiem's ranking is well insulated with two ATP 250 finals not even in his current rankings count. Thiem could easily go on a run at an ATP 1000 or more and boost his ranking nicely.o_O
ThiemRanking.png

Thiem unlikely to defend his SF at French Open, but he's defending little in the way of points for the rest of the season, so he'll have a great chance to move back up to top 8 for WTF.:cool:

He can't have had much stamina before if he's improved in that area....at least going on the way he blew out against Goffin.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thiem won't win a Slam.

Tell you what, I'll be kind. He MIGHT win a Slam, but not before 2020.
He' not winning anything big in 2017, but we'll just have to see how the beasting goes. Thiem might easily end his career early with this stuff.:eek:
 

-NN-

G.O.A.T.
Thiem negatives:

1. The Thiem return game with its big improvement on first return in 2016 has stalled. Thiem is still quite weak against the biggest servers like Raonic or Tsonga.:(

2. Thiem speed has stalled. Thiem has reached his physical speed max. No more magic increases in his overall game.:confused:

What's him getting a bit faster going to do for his game exactly, allow him to mindlessly bash the ball better than ever before? Maybe he could have a magic increase in his overall game by holding back a bit, and that's even without adding extras such as implementing some sort of loose haphazard plan during matches.

I'd like to see him start to play with very weak and loose plans first, which would see immediate progress. After that, he can work on some mediocre plans and then he'll have magic improvements in his game.
 

Surion

Hall of Fame
Thiem's start to 2017 seems a bit lackluster, but many positive signs for Thiem who has added 70 ranking points so far this year:

1. Routinely serving in excess of 220 kph – this is a big change from 2016 where Thiem usually used a big kicker for most of his serves with an occasional bomb. First serve points won on the increase.:p

2. Thiem is noticeably stronger and has more stamina – look for Thiem to beast up for years to come so slowly Thiem will improve especially at holding serve with a stronger attacking game (Thiem saved two games from 0-40 with Paire, and completely beasted out of one with Goffin at Auz Open.:eek:)

3. Thiem backhand – more consistent and powerful. One area that he has improved over his best in 2016.:D

4. Thiem forehand – it’s pretty much back in form and Thiem is able to beast it much more often.

Thiem negatives:

1. The Thiem return game with its big improvement on first return in 2016 has stalled. Thiem is still quite weak against the biggest servers like Raonic or Tsonga.:(

2. Thiem speed has stalled. Thiem has reached his physical speed max. No more magic increases in his overall game.:confused:

Summary:

Thiem will slowly improve his strength and stamina for years to come and steadily climb the rankings. Thiem the beast will emerge. Thiem may be able to excel on grass this year, but majors on clay and hard courts will be a big asks as the Thiem game will exhaust him before tournament end.
920x920.jpg


Thiem will maintain his ranking after the Australia swing moving up 90 points and maintaining 8th in the world unless Dimitrov wins Auz Open, Tsonga makes final, or Goffin makes final. Cilic is a scant 55 points ahead of Thiem after Auz.

The following table shows the point makeup of Thiem's ranking and a forecast for 2017 (will be updated periodically). It shows Thiem gaining points with a Rio final (depleted field), but net 200 points down after Acapulco where Thiem defends the title against a burgeoning field including Raonic and Nadal.:eek: Thiem is likely to maintain an 8 seed for clay season where this will garner him much needed byes at the three ATP masters 1000 clay events where Thiem is poised to add 170 points to his ranking before the French Open and maintain an 8th seed. Thiem could easily slide lower with very poor performances or injury, but Thiem's ranking is well insulated with two ATP 250 finals not even in his current rankings count. Thiem could easily go on a run at an ATP 1000 or more and boost his ranking nicely.o_O
ThiemRanking.png

Thiem unlikely to defend his SF at French Open, but he's defending little in the way of points for the rest of the season, so he'll have a great chance to move back up to top 8 for WTF.:cool:
Wow, you just wrote "Thiem" like a hundred times.

Unreadable.
 

Gary Duane

Talk Tennis Guru
I'm much more guarded these days. I pretty much am saying he's stalling out in the rankings for year, but should hold onto a WTF spot.:D The old Thiem thread got buried in pro match results. Letting the natives in General Pro chime in and maybe this can stay in general pro if Thieministas don't go reporting match results right away.:confused:
My observations:

Thiem right now has one of the worst strategies I've ever seen in a potential top player for winning fast surfaces.

The guy IS a beast, but it's as if he wants to prove that Nadal doesn't stand back far enough!

If he gets hot on clay the results may be different. He should be amazingly strong on clay, and he may use clay as the base of his year as Nadal does. His game should adapt best to that surface.
 

-NN-

G.O.A.T.
Thiem needs to hire Brad Gilbert. I'm serious. He has lots of the raw stuff about him that a tennis player needs to win big, and Brad could teach him how to work out there over a period of 2-3 years.
 
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Gazelle

G.O.A.T.
Thiem needs to hire Brad Gilbert. I'm serious. He has lots of the raw stuff about him that a tennis players needs to win big, and Brad could teach him how to work out there over a period of 2-3 years.

Yesterday i was hugely impressed by the potential Thiem showed. The guy has I believe what he needs to succeed. But he needs to learn how to use his vaste potential.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
He can't have had much stamina before if he's improved in that area....at least going on the way he blew out against Goffin.
Thiem really is in uncharted territory with his power game. No player of that size his hit a first serve like he's got. Roscoe Tanner perhaps, but that was a very different serve. The forehand and backhand take a ton of exertion. Thiem was averaging 83 mph from both sides against Goffin on his topspin groundies.
Average ground stroke speed during the Stan Wawrinka – Andy Murray 2015 WTF match:

Stan – Forehand: 77mph, Backhand: 73mph

Andy – Forehand: 71mph, Backhand: 65mph

Thiem also has higher rpms, so he expends a tremendous amount of energy hitting like this. He simply did not hit as hard on average in 2016 (Thiem had highest average forehand speed in 2016.) Stamina will continue to be an issue with this style of game, but Thiem will continue to improve on this front for years to come. Patience reaper.:D
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
I think he's definitely going to win the French open within the next 5 years. If he can stay fresh for the whole season, then he will be solid top 8. He needs to limit his schedule and cut down on the unforced errors.
Thiem is quite capable of low UE counts. Personally I'd prefer him to be much more patient. Beautiful balance against Goffin the first two sets, but then Thiem was gassed and just started mindlessly bashing. Very high heat that afternoon at over 95F and humid.:confused:

Thiem facebook:
"7/5 6/7 2/6 2/6 against David Goffin. During the first two sets my game was quite solid, but in the tiebreak tables turned. David started playing really well and hardly ever made mistakes unlike me, my unforced error quote went straight up. I suppose that going into the third set with a 2 to 0 lead would have been different, but that wouldn’t change anything now. David deserved the win and I wish him all the best for the upcoming match, bonne chance! So that’s it for me at the first Grand Slam of the year. Despite my disappointment today I have to say that overall it was quite a good start of the season. Now I am going back home, I need the brace myself… winter is coming. Good night from Melbourne!"
 

reaper

Legend
Thiem really is in uncharted territory with his power game. No player of that size his hit a first serve like he's got. Roscoe Tanner perhaps, but that was a very different serve. The forehand and backhand take a ton of exertion. Thiem was averaging 83 mph from both sides against Goffin on his topspin groundies.
Average ground stroke speed during the Stan Wawrinka – Andy Murray 2015 WTF match:

Stan – Forehand: 77mph, Backhand: 73mph

Andy – Forehand: 71mph, Backhand: 65mph

Thiem also has higher rpms, so he expends a tremendous amount of energy hitting like this. He simply did not hit as hard on average in 2016 (Thiem had highest average forehand speed in 2016.) Stamina will continue to be an issue with this style of game, but Thiem will continue to improve on this front for years to come. Patience reaper.:D

Problem is his power game doesn't really work. He'd be better off having a more conventional rally ball so that when he does step it up there's an element of surprise. Playing the way he does the opponent knows exactly what's coming.
 

H_Richardson

Semi-Pro
Admire your commitment to Thiem but he's had bad losses to both Evans and Goffin in his first two tournaments. That is not progress no matter how fast his serve/groundstrokes are.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Problem is his power game doesn't really work. He'd be better off having a more conventional rally ball so that when he does step it up there's an element of surprise. Playing the way he does the opponent knows exactly what's coming.
Did you see the first two sets with Goffin? Thiem had the UE count down pretty low and still had a higher gear. I do like to see Thiem grind and he's fully capable of having very low UE counts. So far in 2017 its been a lot more power, but I'm sure the Thiem will evolve their strategy for given matches.

The last two sets with Goffin were exactly as you say and Thiem had lost a bit of sting, so Goffin was able to handle him much better. Thiem really was just mindlessly spraying balls everywhere which is the first time I've seen him do that over an extended period.:confused:
 

tennisaddict

Bionic Poster
Thiem looks very good. But Plays very average.

Kind of Dmitrov 2015-16

See him on a good game , you think Thiem is a lock for FO title, the very next game he has all the makings of 10-20 ranked player. Plus choice of tournaments shows he is like Ferrer and does not have champion mentality like Zverev or Kyrgios
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Admire your commitment to Thiem but he's had bad losses to both Evans and Goffin in his first two tournaments. That is not progress no matter how fast his serve/groundstrokes are.
Goffin is in strong form and Thiem went down last year. It was not a great surprise or a bad loss. Evans also was on an extended roll making the final of Sydney and doing great at Auz including knocking out Cilic.:eek: Thiem's happy; I'm happy.;)
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
What's him getting a bit faster going to do for his game exactly, allow him to mindlessly bash the ball better than ever before? Maybe he could have a magic increase in his overall game by holding back a bit, and that's even without adding extras such as implementing some sort of loose haphazard plan during matches.

I'd like to see him start to play with very weak and loose plans first, which would see immediate progress. After that, he can work on some mediocre plans and then he'll have magic improvements in his game.
:rolleyes: Thiemerer:
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Ycr0P5iXHHuU.gif
 

QuentinFederer

Professional
Thiem looks very good. But Plays very average.

Kind of Dmitrov 2015-16

See him on a good game , you think Thiem is a lock for FO title, the very next game he has all the makings of 10-20 ranked player. Plus choice of tournaments shows he is like Ferrer and does not have champion mentality like Zverev or Kyrgios
Kyrgios? Really? He's got the mentality of a spoilt 3 year old. He will never win a slam.
 

-NN-

G.O.A.T.
Kyrgios and Thiem are similar in a way, which is why I commented specifically about them @Meles earlier regarding their Slam chances. Both have a lot of the pure stuff needed to win on the highest level but have gaping holes in their mental application; Kyrgios in terms of work ethic and dedication and Thiem in terms of strategy and tactics. Both problems are big in terms of being able to get over the top and win a big one, and both problems might need a long time to fix. Still two impressive players.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thiem looks very good. But Plays very average.

Kind of Dmitrov 2015-16

See him on a good game , you think Thiem is a lock for FO title, the very next game he has all the makings of 10-20 ranked player. Plus choice of tournaments shows he is like Ferrer and does not have champion mentality like Zverev or Kyrgios
FFS TA. Zverev still at one title. Thiem at 7. I like all 3 for champion mentality, but Kyrgios in champion mode is on par with Stanimal sightings.:confused:

Thiem is a bit over ranked due to some masterful scheduling. 7-3 in finals.:rolleyes: Definition of champion mentality.;)
 

amorys90

Professional
I'm with you Meles. Thiem will be #1 some day. He and Dimi are on the brink of being the next dominators of men's tennis. I see Thiem winning 3-4 French opens and at least 30 total titles on clay. I think people are being to quick to write off Thiem.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
I'm with you Meles. Thiem will be #1 some day. He and Dimi are on the brink of being the next dominators of men's tennis. I see Thiem winning 3-4 French opens and at least 30 total titles on clay. I think people are being to quick to write off Thiem.
Dimitrov has really been something of late. Match in Brisbane was great with Thiem. I ranked Dimi 3rd coming in to Auz and given his H2Hs he should be in the final. Hope he delivers. With the Fedal revival not sure where Dimi will shake out, but he may well play both.:eek: Dimitrov is an example of a player getting into their strength and stamina prime. He's an incredible athlete with his height and speed; far more graceful than Murray.:oops: In 2017 Grigs looks set to deliver on all your hopes.:D


Thiem already has Fedal wins so resurgent Fedal in 2017 will be great for Thiem, Greegor, and the game of tennis.:p
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thiem has a tough time defending the 8th seed beforebthat time. Especially with rafa's resurgence
New thread.:D

Rafa is past him and Dimitrov will not be far behind me thinks. Monfils has dropped below Thiem and Cilic just has 55 points. Its going to be very close and Thiem could really use a bye for the ATP 1000 clay events.
Smiley21-1.gif
Luckily Fed's back aways for a while. For WTF, Thiem may well need to be good enough to let Djokovic freefall past him.:confused:
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Thiem's start to 2017 seems a bit lackluster, but many positive signs for Thiem who has added 70 ranking points so far this year:

1. Routinely serving in excess of 220 kph – this is a big change from 2016 where Thiem usually used a big kicker for most of his serves with an occasional bomb. First serve points won on the increase.:p

2. Thiem is noticeably stronger and has more stamina – look for Thiem to beast up for years to come so slowly Thiem will improve especially at holding serve with a stronger attacking game (Thiem saved two games from 0-40 with Paire, and completely beasted out of one with Goffin at Auz Open.:eek:)

3. Thiem backhand – more consistent and powerful. One area that he has improved over his best in 2016.:D

4. Thiem forehand – it’s pretty much back in form and Thiem is able to beast it much more often.

Thiem negatives:

1. The Thiem return game with its big improvement on first return in 2016 has stalled. Thiem is still quite weak against the biggest servers like Raonic or Tsonga.:(

2. Thiem speed has stalled. Thiem has reached his physical speed max. No more magic increases in his overall game.:confused:

Summary:

Thiem will slowly improve his strength and stamina for years to come and steadily climb the rankings. Thiem the beast will emerge. Thiem may be able to excel on grass this year, but majors on clay and hard courts will be a big asks as the Thiem game will exhaust him before tournament end.
920x920.jpg


Thiem will maintain his ranking after the Australia swing moving up 90 points and maintaining 8th in the world unless Dimitrov wins Auz Open, Tsonga makes final, or Goffin makes final. Cilic is a scant 55 points ahead of Thiem after Auz.

The following table shows the point makeup of Thiem's ranking and a forecast for 2017 (will be updated periodically). It shows Thiem gaining points with a Rio final (depleted field), but net 200 points down after Acapulco where Thiem defends the title against a burgeoning field including Raonic and Nadal.:eek: Thiem is likely to maintain an 8 seed for clay season where this will garner him much needed byes at the three ATP masters 1000 clay events where Thiem is poised to add 170 points to his ranking before the French Open and maintain an 8th seed. Thiem could easily slide lower with very poor performances or injury, but Thiem's ranking is well insulated with two ATP 250 finals not even in his current rankings count. Thiem could easily go on a run at an ATP 1000 or more and boost his ranking nicely.o_O
ThiemRanking.png

Thiem unlikely to defend his SF at French Open, but he's defending little in the way of points for the rest of the season, so he'll have a great chance to move back up to top 8 for WTF.:cool:

All very impressive Meles but haven't you've told us all this before? When is he actually going to translate all this stuff into match wins and take it to the top???;)
 

bjk

Hall of Fame
The announcers said he had a bad serve return because he couldn't choose whether to go for his backhand returns. Does he always use the same backhand grip (continental) for all his returns ?
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
All very impressive Meles but haven't you've told us all this before? When is he actually going to translate all this stuff into match wins and take it to the top???;)

Exactly! Talk is cheap. Thiem is lacking something. To me he looks like a decent top ten player, not a guy who is going to go on and win 10 slams.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
Thiem needs to know how to use his weapons better. The guy's got almost all the shots but is quickly becoming an Almagro.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
All very impressive Meles but haven't you've told us all this before? When is he actually going to translate all this stuff into match wins and take it to the top???;)
Patience Mainad. Its a slow and steady crawl to the top from here on out I tell ya.;) This is my take on Thiem 2017. Would love to finally see a rematch with Murray in Miami.
rubbinghands.gif


Let's explore the Thiem H2H with the best:
1. Murray - last match was 3 sets in Miami 2015 and Thiem is radically better. Full Muzziah on hand may be necessary to stop Thiemination.:eek:
2. Djokovic - Djokovic has the edge, but Djoko is in freefall and not playing until IW. Thiem likely to be very match sharp by that time and a Miami rematch might not go as smoothly.:oops:
3. Wawrinka - Thiem has beaten Wawa on clay fresh off his Monte Carlo win. Thiem has nothing to fear in this matchup
4. RaoMug - owns Thiem, but probably not on clay
5. Nishikori - owns Thiem
6. Nadal - Thiem probably in trouble against resurgent Nadal, but the has a chance and would win if Nadal not sharp
7. Dimitrov - Greegor betterer, but Thiem a threat
8. Federer - with two wins in 2016 Thiem will be quite competitive except on US Open fast hard courts
9. Cilic/Monfils/Goffin - Thiem has beaten them, but could be close matches
10. Kygrios/Zverev/Pouille - very even with Thiem and Zverev may be better already

It would be a boon to Thiem if he could get a foot hold in the H2H with Wawa and Muzziah; its been too long.:eek:
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
The announcers said he had a bad serve return because he couldn't choose whether to go for his backhand returns. Does he always use the same backhand grip (continental) for all his returns ?
That's some bad commie work. Thiem has trouble with really nuked serves (Tsonga and above). He has a very effective chip/bunt return for everyone else. Its a new thing for Thiem since last year and its been so effective he's messing with it on 2nd and mixing up his return position a lot. He probably should sit back on 2nd return and crush for the most part. First return is almost always bunt unless the server is weaker.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
I wouldn't call losing to Goffin "taking it to the top"
No, but won last two with Fed who said he couldn't stay in the rallies with Thiem.:oops:

This is a long term thread. My predictions for 2017 are:
1. 8th seed with byes for clay season and French Open
2. Thiem manages to make WTF again despite Fedal hogging up two of the spots. This is really pretty bold, but it seems likely Djokovic or perhaps Wawrinka might drop enough. Thiem unlikely to catch Ninja or RaoMug unless they are injured. It may take an unexpected abscence like 2016.:confused:

In 2018 Thiem will get higher due to improved play and attrition among the elders at the top of the game and it will continue from there. Top would be winning a slam or making it to #1 (even for a week.) I don't expect Thiem to make a bold move to the top unless I've underestimated the beast mode's impact on clay.:D
 

Purplemonster

Hall of Fame
Wow, you just wrote "Thiem" like a hundred times.

Unreadable.

Thiem has some issues he needs to address. Thiem expends way to much energy. Thiem tries to hit the cover off each ball. As a result Thiem needs to call for the trainer. Thiem needs a new coach. A new coach for Thiem would teach Thiem to pace himself. Thiem would benefit from using more variety in his game. This would allow for Thiem to go deeper in majors. The deeper Thiem consistently goes in majors the more the likelihood of him winning one.

Sorry Surion, I couldn't resist.
 

KINGROGER

G.O.A.T.
No, but won last two with Fed who said he couldn't stay in the rallies with Thiem.:oops:

This is a long term thread. My predictions for 2017 are:
1. 8th seed with byes for clay season and French Open
2. Thiem manages to make WTF again despite Fedal hogging up two of the spots. This is really pretty bold, but it seems likely Djokovic or perhaps Wawrinka might drop enough. Thiem unlikely to catch Ninja or RaoMug unless they are injured. It may take an unexpected abscence like 2016.:confused:

In 2018 Thiem will get higher due to improved play and attrition among the elders at the top of the game and it will continue from there. Top would be winning a slam or making it to #1 (even for a week.) I don't expect Thiem to make a bold move to the top unless I've underestimated the beast mode's impact on clay.:D

True but these ball bashers usually up their game when playing Fed. See Berdych, Tsonga, Cilic, Raonic etc.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Exactly! Talk is cheap. Thiem is lacking something. To me he looks like a decent top ten player, not a guy who is going to go on and win 10 slams.
I largely agree with your assessment. Thiem speed is not enough. His only hope is to develop brutal power and stanima. That is very much on track in early 2017 and we'll see how it goes.;) I do not think Thiem is ATG material. Hoping for healthy Muster or something career of sorts sans the horrible parking lot incident. Muster was his most brutal around age 27. Patience cc.o_O
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thiem has some issues he needs to address. Thiem expends way to much energy. Thiem tries to hit the cover off each ball. As a result Thiem needs to call for the trainer. Thiem needs a new coach. A new coach for Thiem would teach Thiem to pace himself. Thiem would benefit from using more variety in his game. This would allow for Thiem to go deeper in majors. The deeper Thiem consistently goes in majors the more the likelihood of him winning one.

Sorry Surion, I couldn't resist.
(T)hi(e)m (T)h(i)e(m) my pronoun use seems to stop with certian names.:confused: Heh I use his once in #48.:D
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thiem definitely should be doing well at RG / Wimbledon.
Generally in the modern game I think those slams are easiest for the younglings. The brutality of the high bouncing spinny power baseline game is US Open style hard courts in the heat. Auz might be the easiest hard court with its lower bounce. Towering bean poles like Zverev are a bit more immune, but even Zverev took a while to take to hard courts (had bad summer and then started clicking in the Fall.) Thiem is six inches shorter than Zed, so RG and Wimbledon are still his best bets. That upper body strength will come later with age; it just won't happen in the gym. It takes an animal like Nadal to break through at a young age and of course Nadal took a while for hard courts to become a strength.;)
 
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