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Dominic Thiem announced earlier this month that he would join Kosmos Holding, the sports and media investment group founded by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
Kosmos' new player agency will be headed by Thiem's former coach Galo Blanco, who is also set to take on the role of the Austrian's new agent after he parted ways with long-time manager Herwig Straka earlier this month.
In a recent interview with Der Standard, Blanco revealed it was not a challenge to get Thiem on board as the "traditionalist" Austrian was pushing for the move himself.
"He wanted it, even though Dominic isn't a fan of big changes. He's a traditionalist," Blanco said. "I knew that the contract with his old management was running out. It was less than two weeks ago when we presented our plans to the Thiem family. They liked it."
Blanco said Kosmos' new player agency would stay small-scale and only work with a few top players and emerging talents.
"We want to stay small, by no means recruit hundreds of players. Dominic Thiem is our spearhead, and I would also like to sign (another) top player. Then we focus on talents," he claimed.
During the course of the interview, Galo Blanco also spoke about his relationship with Thiem's coaching team, which comprises of the Austrian's father Wolfgang and Nicolas Massu.
Blanco, who was Thiem's touring coach in 201 claimed there would be "no unrest" between the two parties.
"Believe me, there will be no unrest," Thiem's new agent said. "I've been friends with Nico for over twenty years. I also get along very well with Dominic's father. If you don't ask me, I won't interfere either."
The Spanish agent was also complimentary of the work done by his predecessor Herwig Straka.
"Not at all," he replied when asked if there was any bad blood between him and Straka. "I appreciate Herwig very much, he is a tireless worker. Over the past few months we've worked closely together to find a venue for the Davis Cup."
Davis Cup would have died out without a change: Dominic Thiem's agent Galo Blanco
Two years ago, Kosmos struck a deal with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to revamp the Davis Cup. The scoring system was changed from best-of-five sets to best-of-three, while the home-and-away format was replaced by a 'Finals' week with 18 teams battling it out at a common location.
The new format was criticized by many players and fans who felt the old structure was more appealing from an emotional standpoint. However, Blanco has defended the move, claiming that without Kosmos' intervention the Davis Cup would have "died out."
"The Davis Cup no longer worked," Blanco insisted. "The best players in the world were missing. You should have kept four weeks a year free, which is an impossibility under the current tournament calendar. Without a change, the Davis Cup would have died out. A final tournament was the best idea."
