World No.5 Dominic Thiem explains that he does not require painkillers to continue playing at the top as the season progresses and is not at this stage to play through pain.
Dominic Thiem has worked his way to the top of the ATP circuit and has also been a consistent force on the tour, reaching the ATP World Tour Finals 2019 for the fourth consecutive time in his career.
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However, the Austrian divulged that he has been lucky with his body so far and has not reached a stage where he has to take painkillers like most of his fellow mates on the ATP Tour.
In the pre-tournament press conference on the media day at the ATP World Tour Finals 2019 on Friday, Dominic Thiem said: “Unluckily not in that stage yet. First of all, I am still pretty young but not as young as many others in this tournament but still in the middle somehow.”
He further added: “I am also very lucky with my body so far and I don’t have to play with painkillers yet so I hope that it still holds very long.”
The fifth seed feels that he is currently playing some of his best tennis ahead of the final event of the season. After bowing out in the first round of the US Open 2019, where he was suffering from illness, Thiem made a turnaround and made an impressive come back on the ATP Tour.
He won the 2019 China Open in Beijing — where he defeated the former World No. 1 Andy Murray, 2018 Rolex Paris Masters champion Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 26-year-old then triumphed at the Erste Bank Open 2019, soaking the pressure of competing at home in Vienna.
Dominic Thiem is drawn with the defending runner-up Novak Djokovic, six-time champion Roger Federer and debutant Matteo Berrettini in the Bjorn Borg group at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals. He will open his campaign against Roger Federer on Sunday.
The Austrian has improved his performance against the Top 10 ATP players in 2019 with 6-3 head-to-head. Before the 2019 season, Theim had a 15-32 head-to-head record against the Top 10 opponents.
