“Super Tough”: Dominic Thiem Proud to Establish Himself Alongside Rafael Nadal in Consistency Record

Published 04/02/2021, 8:30 AM EDT

Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem has opened up on his remarkable run inside the Top-10. Currently ranked fourth in singles, the reigning US Open champion has been inside the Top-10 since June 2016.

It is the second-longest active streak after 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, who has consistently been among the Top-10 players since April 25, 2005.

Thiem says his second-most consistent run inside Top-10 after Nadal speaks for his consistency

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In a virtual chat with The Times of India, a leading Indian daily, Thiem said that the Top-10 run is a record that he holds very dear to himself.

He added that this piece of statistic speaks for his consistency and also the fact that he hasn’t had too many “ups and downs” all these years.

“The Top-10 consistency is a thing I’m very proud of. It shows that I didn’t have a lot of ups and downs, I played at a very high level for most of the time,” Thiem said.

The 27-year-old has been going through a slump of sorts since making a fourth-round exit at this year’s Australian Open.

He followed up his pre-quarters loss to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov with a quarter-final defeat to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in Doha and a shocking opening-round loss at the hands of unheralded South African Lloyd Harris in Dubai.

Dominic Thiem says big players try to break into Top-10, but not many do it

Thiem pulled out of the ongoing Miami Open citing a foot problem and has also withdrawn from the upcoming Monte Carlo Masters and has said that he is not yet ready to compete.

He said that with so many big players vying to break into the Top-10, it has been “super tough” to hold his own in the rankings.

“Tennis is such a competitive sport, with so many great players who have the possibility to break into the Top-10, but not too many guys do it,” Thiem said.

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The Austrian added that the fact that he has managed to be among the Top-10 players for close to five years now shows where his game is at. “That I have been there for almost five years makes me proud,” he said.

Thiem was recently quoted as saying that beating the ‘King of Clay’ at Roland Garros is the primary goal that he has set for himself this year. The Austrian lost back-to-back French Open finals to Nadal in 2018 and 2019 and wants to be third-time lucky this year.

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Priyabrata Chowdhury is a tennis author for EssentiallySports. He has been a print journalist for a decade, producing news pages for leading national dailies such as the Hindustan Times and The New Indian Express. His passion for sports eventually drove him to tennis writing.

“Super Tough”: Dominic Thiem Proud to Establish Himself Alongside Rafael Nadal in Consistency Record

Thiem says his second-most consistent run inside Top-10 after Nadal speaks for his consistency

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Dominic Thiem says big players try to break into Top-10, but not many do it