Thiem's Time Has Come

Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
csm_thiem-thompson_a3bddc6268.jpg

Much like the 2018 US Open, Thiem is flying completely under the radar and very hungry given his horror of a start to 2019. Despite the travails Thiem is close enough in the live rankings to make a critical move to #4 in the world in time for the European clay season. Here are the germane current live rankings through today with 2018 Miami thrown out as well:
4 Kei Nishikori 4190
5 Roger Federer 4035
6 Kevin Anderson 3935
7 Dominic Thiem 3800

With Anderson's withdrawal from IW and Nishikori barely alive at IW, Thiem has an outside shot at passing both Federer and Nishikori in time for Monte Carlo (Federe's Sunshine season may be academic as he's unlikely to play Monte Carlo and Thiem is not defending many points so will have a chance to close the gap even if Fed does well at IW and Miami.)

Indian Wells has proven a favorable surface for Thiem in the past, and with new coach Nicolas Massu, Thiem looks hungry just in time to defend the large haul of 2018 clay points. If Thiem fails to make #4 he'll have a 75% chance of hitting Nadal, Zverev, or Djokovic at quarter-final stage of Masters 1000s which will make defending 2018's progress much harder. 4 seed at Monte Carlo and Thiem's season may yet be salvaged.o_O
 
NBP

NBP

Hall of Fame
Bumiem will amount to nothing outside of the months of April, May and June. Never forget that.
 
yokied

yokied

Hall of Fame
Meles, my fellow long-suffering Thiem-traveller, you've told us what he needs to do to stay relevant but haven't given us one shred of supporting evidence to show that he actually can and/or will do it. I'm flying under the radar too but it doesn't mean I'll qualify for Miami (or any challenger-level event for that matter) and beat the big 3 enroute to my first M1000.

Oh how I wish I was wrong but Thiem's just been too dumb for too long. He can't be salvaged. That defeat to Rafa at the USO after bagelling him in the first set really sealed the deal for me.

ghostofMecir said:
Nice gif
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Nice sig
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
yokied said:
Meles, my fellow long-suffering Thiem-traveller, you've told us what he needs to do to stay relevant but haven't given us one shred of supporting evidence to show that he actually can and/or will do it. I'm flying under the radar too but it doesn't mean I'll qualify for Miami (or any challenger-level event for that matter) and beat the big 3 enroute to my first M1000.

Oh how I wish I was wrong but Thiem's just been too dumb for too long. He can't be salvaged. That defeat to Rafa at the USO after bagelling him in the first set really sealed the deal for me.
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tenor.gif


And yet Thiem also won St. Petersburg the next event and snagged another 200 points beating the resurgent Nishi at WTF. Points are points and its got him close. With Murray out of the game and Wawrinka only able to muster top 15 in ATP race in 2019 after a year back in the game, why not Thiem for top 5/4 with Federe semi-retired? When you think about it your viable alternatives for top 5 are:
1. Semi-retired Fed
2. Tsitsipas
3. Medvedev
4. Kyrgios lol

Aging geriatrics Cilic, Delpo, and Anderson might make a move, but Cilic is the best horse and he has to make up 700 points on Thiem. Despite some success last year Tsits does not profess clay his favorite surface and Medvedev on clay well...
do-cats-really-hate-water0.jpg

Thiem Top 4 at RG is inevitable given the bulk of his clay points are from last year's RG final.:cool:
 
yokied

yokied

Hall of Fame
Meles said:
Thiem Top 4 at RG is inevitable given the bulk of his clay points are from last year's RG final.:cool:
Click to expand...

I dunno how you keep that flame burning bro. Sometime around Madrid is when I'm imagining you'll be really fading and will need a hug.

giphy.gif


Don't be afraid to send out another distress signal like this thread and we'll give you and the poorly-coded Thieminator some love.
 
Rosstour

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
yokied said:
Oh how I wish I was wrong but Thiem's just been too dumb for too long. He can't be salvaged. That defeat to Rafa at the USO after bagelling him in the first set really sealed the deal for me.
Click to expand...

I want to agree but he could easily win an RG or two. Maybe not this year but I wouldn't be surprised at all. Once Rafa is out of the picture, who could consistently stop him on clay? He could be the next "King of Clay" but his reign will be much shorter.

And I didn't know Massu was coaching him. That could be just what he needs, someone with a little fire and swag. Thiem is a little too polite, and that extends to playing Rafa lol.
 
IowaGuy

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
Meles said:
Slow Indian Wells and now the new US Open surface seem to suit him as well as anything off clay. His big match in my mind was the US Open annihilation of Anderson. We'll see soon enough if he's found a well to deal with Servebots.
Click to expand...

Dr. Ivo is serving well this tournament and should give Thiem's returns a good test...

Will be interesting to see if Thiem takes an extremely deep service position like he sometimes does against much weaker servers on slow surfaces, or whether he tries to cut off the angles with a returning position closer to the baseline.

Will be good practice for when Thiem has to deal with Dr. Ivo's imminent replacement: Opelka :)
 
guitarra

guitarra

Professional
thrust said:
If you are talking about Thiem, then it better be soon, as his time is running out.
Click to expand...

It is but he's kind of Wawrinka type of player, a late bloomer who'll peak later. Generally players will peak later in the future mainly due to improved medicine and better regeneration.

All he needs is an additional coach who'll give him some fresh insights mainly about tactical aspects of his game. He's already getting there, the improvements on HC were visible last year, this year's slump is not representative cause Dominic is recovering from the injury.
 
T

thomasferrett

Hall of Fame
NBP said:
Bumiem will amount to nothing outside of the months of April, May and June. Never forget that.
Click to expand...

He will also amount to nothing within the months of April, May and June.

No way is he repeating his clay performance last year. Getting to the finals of a Masters and the French Open? Lol, good luck with that this year.
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
thomasferrett said:
He will also amount to nothing within the months of April, May and June.

No way is he repeating his clay performance last year. Getting to the finals of a Masters and the French Open? Lol, good luck with that this year.
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LOL. You do know Thiem fractured his ankle just before 2018 clay season and only found his best form literally days before the tournament in Lyon and even had to play QF and SF same day? Good luck stopping him with a head of steam coming in from the sunshine double.;) If Thiem makes SF he'll already be just a few points behind Nishikori for 4 ranking. If he makes the IW final he'll spring well ahead. Even if Federer goes deep at IW and Miami he won't play all the clay masters events so Thiem will have a great chance even to secure #4 seed at RG from Federer.

Of note is that Thiem team also did not schedule for Acapulco and they're clearly now resting him a touch before big events.
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
Meles said:
Much like the 2018 US Open, Thiem is flying completely under the radar and very hungry given his horror of a start to 2019. Despite the travails Thiem is close enough in the live rankings to make a critical move to #4 in the world in time for the European clay season. Here are the germane current live rankings through today with 2018 Miami thrown out as well:
4 Kei Nishikori 4190
5 Roger Federer 4035
6 Kevin Anderson 3935
7 Dominic Thiem 3800

With Anderson's withdrawal from IW and Nishikori barely alive at IW, Thiem has an outside shot at passing both Federer and Nishikori in time for Monte Carlo (Federe's Sunshine season may be academic as he's unlikely to play Monte Carlo and Thiem is not defending many points so will have a chance to close the gap even if Fed does well at IW and Miami.)

Indian Wells has proven a favorable surface for Thiem in the past, and with new coach Nicolas Massu, Thiem looks hungry just in time to defend the large haul of 2018 clay points. If Thiem fails to make #4 he'll have a 75% chance of hitting Nadal, Zverev, or Djokovic at quarter-final stage of Masters 1000s which will make defending 2018's progress much harder. 4 seed at Monte Carlo and Thiem's season may yet be salvaged.o_O
Click to expand...
Well, well, well @HetTheGreaterer , Thiemerer has already made his move with his 2nd hard court Masters 1000 SF in a row (Paris last Fall was the first). He's very close to passing Nishikori now for 4th seed on Clay:
4 Kei Nishikori 4190
5 Roger Federer 4170
6 Dominic Thiem 4115
7 Kevin Anderson 3935

Raonic is a horror of a matchup for Thiem so the party may be over, but things are rolling his way.:p If Thiem wins and Federer gets stopped at IW SF or less Thiem will start Miami at 4 in the live rankings, just a scant 5 points free of Fed.o_O
 
Nostradamus

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
Meles said:
csm_thiem-thompson_a3bddc6268.jpg

Much like the 2018 US Open, Thiem is flying completely under the radar and very hungry given his horror of a start to 2019. Despite the travails Thiem is close enough in the live rankings to make a critical move to #4 in the world in time for the European clay season. Here are the germane current live rankings through today with 2018 Miami thrown out as well:
4 Kei Nishikori 4190
5 Roger Federer 4035
6 Kevin Anderson 3935
7 Dominic Thiem 3800

With Anderson's withdrawal from IW and Nishikori barely alive at IW, Thiem has an outside shot at passing both Federer and Nishikori in time for Monte Carlo (Federe's Sunshine season may be academic as he's unlikely to play Monte Carlo and Thiem is not defending many points so will have a chance to close the gap even if Fed does well at IW and Miami.)

Indian Wells has proven a favorable surface for Thiem in the past, and with new coach Nicolas Massu, Thiem looks hungry just in time to defend the large haul of 2018 clay points. If Thiem fails to make #4 he'll have a 75% chance of hitting Nadal, Zverev, or Djokovic at quarter-final stage of Masters 1000s which will make defending 2018's progress much harder. 4 seed at Monte Carlo and Thiem's season may yet be salvaged.o_O
Click to expand...
Thiem is playing crazy good right now. but it really is Mute point. Because Dominick won't be able to beat Rafa at French open, and he has no chance on grass and US open courts are way too fast for Thiem's game. So with all this improvement, he Still can't and won't win a major this year.
 
mrmike

mrmike

Semi-Pro
Nostradamus said:
Thiem is playing crazy good right now. but it really is Mute point. Because Dominick won't be able to beat Rafa at French open, and he has no chance on grass and US open courts are way too fast for Thiem's game. So with all this improvement, he Still can't and won't win a major this year.
Click to expand...
Well, he still made a pretty good paycheck this week anyway
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
Nostradamus said:
Thiem is playing crazy good right now. but it really is Mute point. Because Dominick won't be able to beat Rafa at French open, and he has no chance on grass and US open courts are way too fast for Thiem's game. So with all this improvement, he Still can't and won't win a major this year.
Click to expand...
Thiem would destroy an off/injured Nadal as he's done many times before.
 
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