Thiem Taking It to the Top I Tell Ya

Meles said:
Last year after Nice Thiem stood at 1720 points. This year Thiem has 2085 points in the race plus a likely 180 points from Rome for 2265 points before RG. Thiem's points position will still be better than 2016 even if he draws Nadal for the QF again at RG. R16 at RG would hurt Thiem a bit especially with Stuttgart droping off a week early. If Thiem keeps ahead of Nishikori in the rankings he'll be the 2nd seed at Halle after Federer.:p

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Well Thiem has exceed expectations at the end of the season with 360 points from Rome after beating Rafa and at least another SF at Roland Garros. Looks like we were projecting 2625 points in the race after RG with a QF appearance. Thiem is 3165 in the race and counting at RG over 500 points over this thread's projections.:D With Nishikori's loss today Thiem has nudged ahead to 8th. He'll be sixth if he beats Nadal ahead of Raonic and 5th passing Federer if he wins RG.:p

Wimby seeding is the next big milestone and Thiem sits at 8 narrowly ahead of Nishikori so Halle will be very important.:eek: Thiem will have the #2 seed at Halle where they both play next.:cool:
 
Fedinkum said:
Just wanna bump this thread for Meles' sake...
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Long term he may still make number one. Post RG will tell the tale this year. Thiem is getting strong enough to handle hard courts better. Hope he keeps some Nadal like momentum going after RG.:p

Thiem is primed to add 250 points at Antalya on grass where Lorenzi is the 2nd seed.:confused: 500 points at Hamburg right after Wimbledon too. If Thiem betters Djokovic and Wawrinka through the US Open he would pass them for number 4.:eek:
 
Meles said:
Long term he may still make number one. Post RG will tell the tale this year. Thiem is getting strong enough to handle hard courts better. Hope he keeps some Nadal like momentum going after RG.:p

Thiem is primed to add 250 points at Antalya on grass where Lorenzi is the 2nd seed.:confused: 500 points at Hamburg right after Wimbledon too. If Thiem betters Djokovic and Wawrinka through the US Open he would pass them for number 4.:eek:
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Meles said:
Depends what you call top.;) Thiem has a shot at moving beyond the 5-8 ranking to 4 by the end of the year.:eek:
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I mean top 3 and at least a slam and a few masters. I am guessing he will probably do it by 2020. What do you think of Thiem's inconsistency against top players? Don't you think he needs to refine his game and strategy to win against the very best?
 
Skeletroll said:
I mean top 3 and at least a slam and a few masters. I am guessing he will probably do it by 2020. What do you think of Thiem's inconsistency against top players? Don't you think he needs to refine his game and strategy to win against the very best?
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Not really. There has been some discussion back further in this thread which I find tiresome as Thiem only over hits mainly when he is tired. Today was pretty much physical due to the bounce height.;) Thiem could not beat Rafa on Chatrier no matter what the strategy today. Top 3 is meaningless; for seeding its top 2 or 4. Four in the world is the goal now.:p
 
Gazelle said:
Nadal is going to keep winning RG till he's 40, so Thiem better finds another slam that he can win.
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Thiem's issue isn't with peak level; it's with maintaining that level for the business end of a major tournament. Basically he can GOAT in one match and look hapless in the next match.

Even a guy like Fed had this issue earlier in his career. Wimbledon 2001: brilliant match against Sampras followed by straight set loss to Henman!
 
Thiem did well do better his results from the 1st half of 2016 in the first half of this year. I'm interested to see how he holds up post RG. He doesn't have very many points to defend now so its time to take it to the top! Third in the race rn. Would be awesome if he could finish the year #3 with Fedal taking the top 2.
 
Meles said:
Not really. There has been some discussion back further in this thread which I find tiresome as Thiem only over hits mainly when he is tired. Today was pretty much physical due to the bounce height.;) Thiem could not beat Rafa on Chatrier no matter what the strategy today. Top 3 is meaningless; for seeding its top 2 or 4. Four in the world is the goal now.:p
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Exactly. 3 or 4, doesn't matter. The guy with that seeding is likely to run into the best player in the world, at the moment, in a SF. Then if that player gets beaten, there is more or less an assumption that he deserved not to make it to the final.

If tomorrow Wawrinka makes a valiant effort to win, taking the match to at least four sets, we can say, "OK, Stan was only seeded #3, but look at his play. Obviously he deserves to be there, or around there."

However, if what I am expecting happens, if Stan also goes down in three sets in a year on clay when the other guy, Thiem, has a so much better record overall, I think it will have been a bit unfair.

But mostly the absurdity of Nadal being seeded #4 is just beyond belief in a year where he made the AO, Acapulco and Miami finals on HCs and has only lost one match on clay all year is astounding.

I've been watching RG because of the history. It will be something to see one many win it 10 times, and if Wawrinka by a miracle wins, that will be epic. But other than that I'm seriously thinking I may not watch it next year, for the most part. I'm disgusted with RG as a tournament. This year it has just either been boring or unpleasant for me.
 
Gary Duane said:
Exactly. 3 or 4, doesn't matter. The guy with that seeding is likely to run into the best player in the world, at the moment, in a SF. Then if that player gets beaten, there is more or less an assumption that he deserved not to make it to the final.

If tomorrow Wawrinka makes a valiant effort to win, taking the match to at least four sets, we can say, "OK, Stan was only seeded #3, but look at his play. Obviously he deserves to be there, or around there."

However, if what I am expecting happens, if Stan also goes down in three sets in a year on clay when the other guy, Thiem, has a so much better record overall, I think it will have been a bit unfair.

But mostly the absurdity of Nadal being seeded #4 is just beyond belief in a year where he made the AO, Acapulco and Miami finals on HCs and has only lost one match on clay all year is astounding.

I've been watching RG because of the history. It will be something to see one many win it 10 times, and if Wawrinka by a miracle wins, that will be epic. But other than that I'm seriously thinking I may not watch it next year, for the most part. I'm disgusted with RG as a tournament. This year it has just either been boring or unpleasant for me.
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Well that's because you're watching the event with like a hole through a fence with tennis channel for most of the rounds. I watched via Eurosport with two channels going most of the time (like ESPN and ESPN2) with full completely professional coverage. All courts covered. I'd give it up too with just tennis channel and NBC as primary with 50% WTA mixed in.:rolleyes: (Ostapenko utterly amazing.:oops:)
 
Correct about NBC and TC.

But there was almost no drama in the big picture because Nadal was so completely dominant.

That's not the fault of RG though. ;)
 
Gary Duane said:
Correct about NBC and TC.

But there was almost no drama in the big picture because Nadal was so completely dominant.

That's not the fault of RG though. ;)
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There were plenty of good matches and at least Thiem got himself in a surprisingly good positions for the SF (no sets lost in run to another SF.:p) Thiem broke the opening game and then had 15-40 in the next two Nadal services games plus another 15-40 opportunity early in the 2nd. I'd like to have seen Thiem in the final today because those hot temperatures would have helped him. I didn't watch conditions closely enough to assess bounce height between Friday and Sunday.

The whole draw was basically in what I called "The Quarter of the Dead" with Thiem and Djoko. Rafa's quarter was a joke which is fine. Stanimal and Murray came through nicely for an exceptional SF match in the top half (very windy match still as were QFs.) My only disappointments were Zverev and perhaps Kyrgios, but we knew he was injured coming in.:( Really enjoyed the event and like I've alluded to I think Thiem would have given Rafa a tougher match in the conditions on Sunday (very warm and fast.) Weather was a huge factor for Thiem in this event. The wind allowed him to destroy Djokovic, but somewhat windy conditions and slower conditions on Friday against Nadal hurt Thiem.:oops:
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
@Meles & @Gary Duane
How do you recon Thiems chances on grass?
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Thiem and Nadal will be interesting on grass. It is draw dependent. Thiem cannot break a lot of the big servers so against someone like Tsonga he'd have to be very sharp and prevail in breakers. Nadal can probably still break on grass no problem so if his serve game is as amazing at it seems (only broken once by Thiem in RG SF and final?)
 
Don't be surprised if Nadal does well on grass this year. He was nowhere near this good on clay in 2013.

If his serve% turns out to be around 86%, that means around 50% on return. So I think serve must have pushed towards 90%. ATP figures were not there yet.

He's playing a lot like 2008 in terms of dominance on clay, so now he has something to prove.

I'm not a big fan of rating competition in draws. You can always make it out to be strong or weak.

I just don't think anyone could dent Nadal this year except for that one match in Rome, when he was obviously getting tired. In fact, that loss at Rome was probably perfect for him.
 
Meles said:
Thiem and Nadal will be interesting on grass. It is draw dependent. Thiem cannot break a lot of the big servers so against someone like Tsonga he'd have to be very sharp and prevail in breakers. Nadal can probably still break on grass no problem so if his serve game is as amazing at it seems (only broken once by Thiem in RG SF and final?)
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Do you think Thiem has the same thing as Rafa...survive the first week kind of thing? Doesnt Thiem like a good bounce for the ball too?
Yeah, Rafa is in great form, but not sure how well he can do transition to grass in his age.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
Do you think Thiem has the same thing as Rafa...survive the first week kind of thing? Doesnt Thiem like a good bounce for the ball too?
Yeah, Rafa is in great form, but not sure how well he can do transition to grass in his age.
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I think he may have this going on at Wimby and he's got a blessedly servebot free draw.:D Thiem likes a bad bouncing surface because his spin is even harder for opponents to handle.;)
 
Gary Duane said:
I don't like them at all.

@Meles may disagree.

I figure the next place Thiem will improve on is slow HCs, where he has more time to set up.
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I would have agreed, but apparently Wimbledon seems to be quite slow this year and then it becomes like clay when it's down to dirt in the 2nd week. TTW experts must be right so I'm getting more and more optimistic especially after Thiem showed some spark in the latter stages of the Pospisil match. No Cilic, Tsonga, or Raonic anywhere near Thiem.:D
 
Mission accomplished for Thiem narrowly getting the 8th seed for Wimbledon which kept servebots Raonic and Cilic away from him in the draw. Since Nishikori and Cilic defending more points at Wimbledon, Thiem has moved back to #7 ahead of Nishikori and is only 25 points behind Cilic if he reaches Round of 32 at Wimby. He just needs to get as far as Cilic in the draw to put himself in a great position to pass Marin by the US Open.:p Thiem is currently only 700 points past Federer so would have a shot at #5 were he to beat Federer in the Wimby SF (gets him within 200 points.) A more practical goal for Thiem would be a QF which would put him at 4210 ranking points. Even if Federer went out early round of 32 to someone like Mischa Zverev Thiem would still be almost 400 points behind and would have to win the upcoming Citi Open to catch Federer before Roger's Cup.

Thiem has foregone the July clay season and will be playing the Citi Open in Washington DC as his next event after Wimbledon. No vulturing in Hamburg this year sadly.:eek:
 
Meles said:
I would have agreed, but apparently Wimbledon seems to be quite slow this year and then it becomes like clay when it's down to dirt in the 2nd week. TTW experts must be right so I'm getting more and more optimistic especially after Thiem showed some spark in the latter stages of the Pospisil match. No Cilic, Tsonga, or Raonic anywhere near Thiem.:D
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I know the common wisdom is that grass turns to clay in the 2nd week, but I think this is hugely exaggerated.

The speed - I didn't hear much about that today. But let's see what the weather will do. It's supposed to cool down, and it looks like a lot of rain next week, so we may see some indoor matches.

I really don't know what is going to happen this year. It all seems very unpredictable. Nadal was into the net a LOT today, so if he can get in there a lot, SnV players should be able to do it even more.

Do you think the height of the bounce will increase a lot into the second week?
 
Gary Duane said:
I know the common wisdom is that grass turns to clay in the 2nd week, but I think this is hugely exaggerated.

The speed - I didn't hear much about that today. But let's see what the weather will do. It's supposed to cool down, and it looks like a lot of rain next week, so we may see some indoor matches.

I really don't know what is going to happen this year. It all seems very unpredictable. Nadal was into the net a LOT today, so if he can get in there a lot, SnV players should be able to do it even more.

Do you think the height of the bounce will increase a lot into the second week?
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I really have no idea. Everything is coming right in the world. Dimitrov looks spectacular today and my gut now tells me Thiemerer is going to show in some big matches at Wimby.:eek: Thiem uses more shots and variety than ********* on grass.;)
 
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Slicerman said:
According to Thiem's schedule, he's taking 2-3 weeks off and skipping all the 250 tournaments before playing in the US Open Series. This can only mean good things in the long run.
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A shame Thiem got Servebotted by Berdych as he could have made SF showdown with Fed at Wimby.:( They've completely flipped the switch on the schedule to focus on 500s over 250s. Bresnik admitted the schedule of Rotterdam, Rio, Acapulco back to back was crazy. Anyway with Rio win and final in Barcelona Thiem so far is vulturing fairly well at 500s.

Huge event in Washington in just under two weeks with all 4 top NextGen players, Delpo, Monfils, and Nishikori. Thiem will be the #1 seed and a final on US Open hard courts would be a tremendous achievement in my mind.

To me what's really telling with the schedule is Thiem has dumped prime ATP 500 vulture food at Hamburg on clay in July. Rightfully they are trying to focus on hard courts where Thiem right now plays like a 20th ranked player, but will have top 8 status with byes at Rogers and Cincy. We'll see how it goes, but I'd rather have seen him vulture in Hamburg on clay and then have a week off before Rogers and Cincy back to back. Looks like he'll play three weeks in a row.:confused:
 
Meles said:
A shame Thiem got Servebotted by Berdych as he could have made SF showdown with Fed at Wimby.:( They've completely flipped the switch on the schedule to focus on 500s over 250s. Bresnik admitted the schedule of Rotterdam, Rio, Acapulco back to back was crazy. Anyway with Rio win and final in Barcelona Thiem so far is vulturing fairly well at 500s.

Huge event in Washington in just under two weeks with all 4 top NextGen players, Delpo, Monfils, and Nishikori. Thiem will be the #1 seed and a final on US Open hard courts would be a tremendous achievement in my mind.

To me what's really telling with the schedule is Thiem has dumped prime ATP 500 vulture food at Hamburg on clay in July. Rightfully they are trying to focus on hard courts where Thiem right now plays like a 20th ranked player, but will have top 8 status with byes at Rogers and Cincy. We'll see how it goes, but I'd rather have seen him vulture in Hamburg on clay and then have a week off before Rogers and Cincy back to back. Looks like he'll play three weeks in a row.:confused:
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All 4 top Next Gen players? Zverev, Thiem, Kyrgios and ?
 
Slicerman said:
According to Thiem's schedule, he's taking 2-3 weeks off and skipping all the 250 tournaments before playing in the US Open Series. This can only mean good things in the long run.
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Meles said:
A shame Thiem got Servebotted by Berdych as he could have made SF showdown with Fed at Wimby.:( They've completely flipped the switch on the schedule to focus on 500s over 250s. Bresnik admitted the schedule of Rotterdam, Rio, Acapulco back to back was crazy. Anyway with Rio win and final in Barcelona Thiem so far is vulturing fairly well at 500s.

Huge event in Washington in just under two weeks with all 4 top NextGen players, Delpo, Monfils, and Nishikori. Thiem will be the #1 seed and a final on US Open hard courts would be a tremendous achievement in my mind.

To me what's really telling with the schedule is Thiem has dumped prime ATP 500 vulture food at Hamburg on clay in July. Rightfully they are trying to focus on hard courts where Thiem right now plays like a 20th ranked player, but will have top 8 status with byes at Rogers and Cincy. We'll see how it goes, but I'd rather have seen him vulture in Hamburg on clay and then have a week off before Rogers and Cincy back to back. Looks like he'll play three weeks in a row.:confused:
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I think its a good thing he wants to go for HC. He has higher aims than just being a clay court specialist! Wonder what he is cooking and preparing for the HC season ahead. Looking forward seeing him play again!
 
https://www.rolex.com/rolex-and-sports/tennis.html

Rolex and Tennis
Rolex has forged relationships with some of the greatest tennis players in the men’s game. Today’s champions demonstrate skill and tenacity at the top of the game. From Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to Grigor Dimitrov and Dominic Thiem, Rolex counts some of the sport’s most exciting sportsmen among its tennis Testimonees.

@Meles Does this mean that Thiem is endorsed by Rolex?
 
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