AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 14, 2021

Dominic Thiem

Press Conference

G. DIMITROV/D. Thiem

6-4, 6-4, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What went wrong in the match today?

DOMINIC THIEM: I think a combination of some things, some little physical issues, plus a real bad day, plus the fact that, well, he's a great player. So a combination of those three things, and a result like that can happen.

Q. It's a shocking score line to anybody that knows you, and even Grigor, as good a player as he is. Can you explain what some of the physical aspects are, and how much of an effect did the match with Nick have on this?

DOMINIC THIEM: Well, some little physical issues. I don't want to go closer to them. I don't want to find any excuses. But the thing also is that I'm also not a machine. I mean, sometimes I would like to be, but there are really, really bad days. As soon as you're not a hundred percent there on the court on this level, then results like this come up, and that's exactly what happened today.

Q. A couple weeks ago actually when you were preparing for ATP Cup, how fast things were, how fast the court was playing in John Cain and then Novak has mentioned how fast it was in Rod Laver, you mentioned just now that you weren't finding yourself comfortable. Did the speed play a factor into it?

DOMINIC THIEM: Not today because I got used to it the three previous matches, so I got used to the court. I think Rod Laver is a little bit slower even than John Cain, so it was very, very fast, probably the fastest Grand Slam I've played so far. But that wasn't the issue today.

Q. Did you wake up yesterday morning feeling particularly drained from the match with Nick?

DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah, I mean, it was a special match two nights ago, and of course I woke up maybe a little bit different than on a normal match, especially with all the energy from the crowd. But from that side, it didn't really affect me today.

Q. How would you describe the kind of high from winning of course at the US Open to this point today?

DOMINIC THIEM: Well, it's a really bad day today, bad match for my side. But the high from the US Open is long gone. It was great for some days, but the tennis world goes on so fast, and I think for everybody and also for myself, on court it was forgotten already at the French Open and doesn't really affect me anymore, especially now that it's four or five months gone.

Q. Your thoughts more in detail on the way Dimitrov is playing?

DOMINIC THIEM: I think since probably 10 years or a little bit less, he's one of the best players on tour. If he's on, he's super tough to play, especially in faster conditions than now, and I really wish him that he can make a great breakthrough at a Grand Slam. He would definitely deserve it. As I said, I was not on a hundred percent today, and it doesn't matter if it's Grigor or anybody else, they are just everybody way too good that I beat them if I'm not 100 percent.

Q. I understand you don't want to elaborate on your physical issues, but were they related to your shoes? I saw you had some issues with them in the early sets.

DOMINIC THIEM: Not at all. I mean, I needed new shoes because the shoelaces, they were in danger to break, so that's why I was just for -- if they break, if I have another slide, so I can change the shoes, but that was nothing about any issues. It was just for safety reasons.