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Nicolas Massu, the coach of World No. 3 Dominic Thiem, believes that the Austrian is best positioned to compete as an equal with the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Dominic Thiem had a big breakthrough in 2020, winning his first Grand Slam title at the US Open. The 27-year-old also reached the final of the Australian Open and the season-ending ATP Finals, to firmly entrench himself as a member of the top 3 alongside Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Thiem has had incredible success against the Big 3 over the past two seasons, winning nine of his 12 matches against Federer, Nadal & Djokovic since the start of 2019. Massu alluded to that in a recent interview, while also talking about the 'completeness' of Thiem's game.
“If you do what you have to do, you will always have a chance of winning," Massu said. "He is very complete; he plays well on all surfaces, he has a great serve, forehand, backhand, he moves well. He has the talent to do things much better than you think. It will always be difficult to play against the best in history (the Big 3), but if there is anyone who can compete equally with them it is Dominic."
The Chilean added that Dominic Thiem's consistency over the past two years has been 'spectacular', and marveled at how he was able to outdo his 2019 performances despite a reduced calendar in 2020.
"The level of consistency Dominic Thiem has had in the last two years is spectacular," Massu said. "After 2019, it was already difficult to overcome what he had done: he won 5 tournaments in the year, reached a Grand Slam final. It was super complex to do a better year and with few tournaments he did it: he finished No. 3, winning his first Grand Slam and winning on surfaces where previously the results were not the same as on clay."
Massu believes the difference between the players at the top is extremely minute, and that Thiem's improvement is a testament to his hard work.
“He works 100% every day, he has a spectacular mentality, apart from the talent and the power, how sacrificed he is," Massu added. "He has a lot to keep improving. It is not easy to do so because the margin is very small at this level."
Happy that Dominic Thiem has decided to go to the Tokyo Olympics: Nicolas Massu
Nicolas Massu also expressed his happiness at Dominic Thiem's decision to compete in the Tokyo Olympics next year. Thiem changed his mind about the Tokyo Games after discussions with Massu, who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist himself; the Austrian has now earmarked winning an Olympic medal as one of his major goals for the 2021 season.
“Dominic Thiem is at a perfect age," Massu said. "Being No. 3 in the world, he has chances like others. I am very happy that he made the decision to go to the Olympics. This year, he would not have been able to because he was committed to playing Kitzbuhel."
