Seems to have worked out and the best Thiem fan won.

Thiem did not hit top gear until the latter stages of the final of Lyon.
i did not follow all his matches at Lyon closely, but from what i saw it quite seemed like he was half-training. blasting around, practicing/trying patterns and not investing so much mental energy. that's also why he lost quite some sets there, i think, but by the deciding sets he would always be so much in the match that his opponents had no real chance anymore.
with that said, i still thought that his preparation was not optimal.
i've read here that some think he kinda failed or pissed his pants in the Madrid final, but i think he was mostly tired. (Z would have been the favorite anyway though.)
after the injury he wasn't that fit yet - and proceded to losing in R1 Rome, if to a strong player.
playing the entire Lyon tourney happened mostly out of need, i still think.
his RG QF + SF were also relatively easy btw. but even in case he directly outlasts Nadal physically today,
we'll still have to wait what his schedule will be next year in order to refute me.

for now i can still pull the relativity card, stating he made the final
despite his schedule/preparation.
