I think the peak thiem was 2019 and 2020 specially atp world tour finals 2019 amd 2020 aus open .... He was magical to watch so athletic would reach out for most balls ....amazing forehand one of the best backhand .... Its really sad to see him go this early
Dominic Thiem’s story is so similar to Juan Martin Del Potro. Won that first slam at the U.S. Open and suffered an injury that derailed their career. Del Potro did have a second career that was good but not great. All the best to Thiem. Great competitor and human being.
Thiem was awesome and a great person. The challenge for his style of play and that of Alcaraz is that it is very hard on the body. Only Nadal has managed to get away with a relentless style of play for a long period of time.
@@rogerarnold7 true that. In an interview Thiem actually said that he was a far more cautious player as a youngster, maybe somethin like the version we saw the last few years. He said he's a nice guy by nature and it took Günter Bresnik to turn him into the ruthless baseliner he became
@served with andy roddick, I feel like there is conversation out there about you retiring a bit early...especially when you see guys playing into their upper 30s....but, what say you? It was your career/life.
I remember that US open. Had Novak not hit the lineswoman in the throat there is an argument he would have gone all the way to that final and already have won 25.
Love your podcast Andy, We are all sorry and sad to hear about your condition and we all hope treatment will work, quickly, we all also hope that you and your family are doing well. NGL you kinda have deadpool vibes, sorry. Thiem is underrated, and yes that USO final was the worst and shittest final, mens or womens that I have ever seen.
Tennis is brutal. Losing Söderling, Thiem, Del Potro etc. to illness/injury is truly sad. I'd like to see less matches on hard courts more on grass. The only matches in male slams that should go to five sets are the semis and/or finals. The guy's side is too attritional with levels of athleticism so high and too much time on court.
We're seeing this in other sports too and it is ruining the product for fans. Season ending and career ending injuries due to too much time on court are so devastating. I support everything you suggested here. At the end of the day people pay to see star players play so we need to keep them healthy.
@@SK-qu4wo Totally, but tennis is one of the few sports that a match can last many hours and uses upper and lower body, speed, ability and strength and stamina. Watching the first 20 mins of Murray Djokovic in the U.S. Open final it's amazing both aren't significantly injured.
I think its more mental for Dominic; he rushed into the roland garros the same year he won US Open. Rafa deliberately didn't play the US Open for that reason so i think he put unnecessary stress since that was his best surface. He also stopped playing and took a mental break i think after the lost to dmitrov in australia which was shocking. Sadly he was the only one out of his group that the big 3 feared and fell short in the two ATP finals. He lost both finals after he made room for stephanos and danil when he took out the giants. So clearly its more a mental thing and the only reason why the US open finals felt that way is because of the crowd. Its hard to watch him play now as he cannot get the ball deep anymore and there is no weight on his shot. Sadly he should have taken a couple years off to heal but i guess its difficult to make that decision when you want to compete. Job well done and he will be missed
@2:24 I heard about this a lot - from being the ugliest final to lowest viewership... but why? Didnt get to watch the match in full, so wonder why? I know zverev lost the 2-0 lead, but why was it ugly? I would think it should have been exciting, that Thiem was able to turn the tables. I was rooting for Sasha though
WG acted like an A**! She knows NOTHING about tennis. In that particular situation with Thiem, Serena acted like a jerk; Thiem, as always, was a class act.
Ugliest GS men’s final has to be Korda vs Rios AO ‘98. Korea’s level was low and Rios was HORRIBLE. That one is far worse than Thiem/Zverev USO with no crows
Not a poor analysis at all, Andy just boiled it down to the essentials. The rest is fluff. The lack of his forehand power made him vulnerable on the backhand side, yes he can grinfäd but defense wasn't what set his game apart.
The human body can only take so much. Dominic was playing great tennis way above his pay grade. You're asking too much of your body to produce at these high levels time and time again. This retirement is really not all that surprising.
