Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem’s father has revealed the moment in his son’s career which gave him the belief that he could win against the big guns in the men’s game.

Vienna quarter-final against Jo Wilfred Tsonga gave Dominic Thiem belief

In an interview with leading French publication L’Equipe, Wolfgang Thiem said it was his son’s quarter-final match against French tennis star Jo Wilfred Tsonga at the 2013 Erste Bank Open in Vienna that effectively put him on the road to success.

Wolfgang imparted tennis lessons to his son when he was eight years old.

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“Dominic says his match against Tsonga in Vienna in 2013 (which he lost in three sets in the quarter-finals) gave him the feeling, for the first time, that he could compete against the greatest,” Thiem senior said.

Little milestones helped Thiem grow as player, says father

He added that the wins and titles that his son picked up early in his career helped him grow as a professional tennis player and gave him confidence that he could stand up to the best.

Read More: WATCH: How Dominic Thiem is Going to Spend His Christmas Vacations

“As for me, I never felt like it suddenly clicked. He won the Eddy Herr Cup twice, he won the Orange Bowl, he played a junior final at Roland-Garros, he started winning in Futures, then in Challengers.

He gradually passed all the milestones,” Wolfgang said.

Such has been his son’s rise in the men’s game since he crossed those early milestones that he is ranked among the rising stars who can challenge the supremacy of the ‘Big Three’  – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

US Open title, wins over ‘Big Three’ testifies to Thiem’s rise

This belief in Thiem’s game and the strides he has been making in men’s tennis has only been reinforced after his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open this year.

Thiem beat Federer in the final of the Indian Wells Masters in 2019, testifying to his rising stocks in men’s tennis.

The Austrian currently holds a 5-2 win/loss record against the Swiss Master.

In more success against the ‘Big Three’, Thiem got the better of both Nadal and Djokovic in the ATP Finals this year.

The win at O2 Arena helped the Austrian reduce his head-to-head deficit against the Spaniard to 6-9.

His victory over the Serbian superstar in London helped the Austrian improve on his head-to-head record against Djokovic to 5-7.