QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

March 12, 2021

Dominic Thiem

Press Conference

R. BAUTISTA AGUT/D. Thiem

7-6, 2-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously a tough one. Roberto is not easy for anyone to play and it was a close match. How do you sort of evaluate how you are right now?

DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah, exactly. I mean, all the four matches so far against him, even though they were pretty long time ago, they were tough ones and close ones.

He's always such a difficult opponent to play as he fights from the first to the last points. Doesn't give you anything for free. He also feels super good here in Doha. Obviously two years ago he won the title.

In general, pretty satisfied with my performance. I was fighting from beginning to the end. Of course game-wise here and there I did some bad mistakes, some expensive mistakes as well. But I think it was a little step towards the right direction and try to build up on this in Dubai next week.

Q. Adding to that, obviously a lot of people look at wins and losses, but for you as a high-level player, when you feel that you're making those positive steps, is it just a matter of maybe one big match or something that could really take you to winning titles and that sort of thing?

DOMINIC THIEM: Exactly. I mean, I have enough trust in my game and in my level that I know that any week again I can make a great step forward. I can start to play my best tennis again.

This week obviously the tournament was so strong. I mean, yesterday I beat Karatsev who was in the semifinals of the Australian Open. Now I lost against Roberto. He is No. 13 in the world. He has to face Rublev tomorrow. Anyway, the tournament was so strong, so difficult to go deep.

Yeah, I mean, it was a little step in the right direction, and as I said, I try to build up on this next week in Dubai.