AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2023

Dominic Thiem

Press Conference

A. RUBLEV/D. Thiem

6-3, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Dominic Thiem. I know this is not the best result you would have wanted. Could you help us understand what has been going through with you today?

DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah, I have to go through the match. I guess the first set was not bad at all. It was even.

Then one a little bit worse game from my side, and then he took the first set. And in the second set beginning to break points where I definitely should have done it.

I was playing pretty well. The match was close, was open, and I was also happy with that performance.

This thing came up with abdominals or ribs, and after that serve was tough. Obviously against an opponent like Andrey it's going to be really difficult to end the match successful.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You touched on the abdomen, sort of rib issue. Can you give us a little bit more information around what was happening there?

DOMINIC THIEM: It happened at one serve in the second set. The sun was -- I was in a tough position to serve, so I completely changed the toss, and something happened after at the abs or at the ribs.

Then I went out, and the physio said that the ribs are fine, it's just a little inflammation or a little strain. Yeah, that's what happened. Obviously not the best timing and in the middle of the second set, but it is what it is.

Q. Other than that issue with the ribs in the middle of this match, have you been feeling physically able to compete at the highest level the last few months and also mentally able to compete at the highest level? I know that's been something you've talked about in the last year.

DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah, definitely. I have the feeling that the game in general was in a positive direction. Also, towards the first round here.

But, honestly, I don't think that even on my 100% I'm not able to beat Rublev yet or while he is top 5 seed here, even in a really fit situation. I reckon it would be very, very tough to beat him and with the issue like the abs, it's going to be almost impossible.

But, yeah, the direction doesn't really -- it doesn't really change after that defeat. I tried to go forward and, yeah, tried to make it better in next tournaments.

Q. Are you confident you can get to a point, whether it's later this year or I don't know if you have a timeline in your head where if you are 100% fit, you'll be able to play and compete against anyone and beat anyone the way you were doing so in 2019, 2020?

DOMINIC THIEM: Of course, that's the ultimate goal, and I hope that I can do it now during this season if I have a draw like that, like here in Australia against a top-10 player, top-5 seed to go out on court and to believe that I can win it.

Q. So it's the beginning of a new season, but what is your assessment after nine months now that you are trying to come back? Is it more difficult than you expected maybe?

DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah, it was -- not anymore, but in the beginning it was way tougher than I expected. Also, I was playing way worse than I was expecting, so it was a tough way back, but things changed. Especially towards Autumn, towards the last tournament of the year.

There I was playing pretty decent. As I said, this tournament doesn't change anything because I just had a really tough opponent. Yeah, I hope that I can improve the results at the South American clay.

Q. How much do these physical injuries, the ribs, the wrist, how do they continue to affect you mentally and in playing your shots? Do they still play a role in how you take the match forward?

DOMINIC THIEM: No. The shots today were completely fine, obviously or you can feel that today is just a minor injury. Hopefully if something bad happens like the wrist, you straightaway feel it that something is very wrong.

I guess this is a little strain of a muscle. Obviously it shouldn't happen in a match like that, in a Grand Slam match, but that's part of the game, important part of the game to be able to play for three, four hours on a high level. I was not able to do that today.

So it's not easy mentally, but still, I guess that it's a minor thing, and that in some days I'm able to play full again.