'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Dominic Thiem, like most other players, has had an extended vacation of sorts due to the delayed start of the 2021 Australian hardcourt swing. But the World No. 3 hopes to continue building on the momentum he has achieved over the past two seasons, and also that the tennis circuit gradually returns to normalcy this year.
In 2019, Dominic Thiem reached the final of the French Open for the second year in a row. And last September, he won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open.
The 27-year-old also reached the final of the Australian Open in January 2020, and the summit clash at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. Those results helped him finish the year at No. 3 in the world rankings, right behind top-ranked Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Rafael Nadal.
Last year the ATP tour was shut down for five months, from March to August, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thiem hopes there won't be any such long breaks this year, although he has already got a little more time off due to the Australian Open being postponed by a month.
"I've been on vacation a little longer than usual," Thiem said. "(I hope) That we can play through for a year and I have the results again and continue the trend from 2020 and 2019. I hope that apart from tennis, a certain normalcy will return in 2021, that maybe in summer or autumn 2021 you will have a reasonably normal life again."
The off-season training went well: Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem is currently training at home in Austria, and he plans to leave for Melbourne in mid-January. The 27-year-old claims that he focused on fitness and conditioning drills during the initial part of his off-season training.
"The training went well," Thiem said. "For the first two, two and a half weeks, I only did fitness."
Dominic Thiem is scheduled to represent Austria at the ATP Cup in the first week of February, where the team will be captained by his father. He will then play the Australian Open starting 8 February; the Austrian is one of the top favorites for the title along with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
There have also been some reports coming out of Australia that the top 3 men and women will quarantine in Adelaide and play an exhibition event there prior to the ATP Cup. It remains to be confirmed if Dominic Thiem is also part of this arrangement.
