Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal are close friends, says agent
Herwig Straka spoke about Dominic Thiem losing the last two French Open finals he played in against Rafael Nadal. Straka feels confident for the Austrian's chances in the future. "Thiem may be the best player on clay with Nadal over the last years in terms of results. He just needs to beat Rafa, it's not easy. Dominic is working on that and at one point he may beat Rafa on clay. He needs to keep up the pace because other younger players like Daniil Medvedev are coming up but he needs to be focused on himself", he said.
On the relationship between Nadal and Thiem, Straka added: "There is a lot of respect and friendship. Even Rafa said Dominic is a top player. They are rivals but Rafa is one of the players he is closest with on Tour."
On Thiem dealing with fever and health issues multiple times a year, Straka added: "Every player deals with issues. Sometimes he played too much in the past year so he needs to make some changes and have longer breaks so that body recovers better and avoid that."
Straka has been hired by Thiem as a new agent earlier this year in March, replacing Gunter Bresnik who previously served as the Austrian player's coach. "He is one of the leading players for the next generation, he has outstanding performances both on and off court. If you win a Grand Slam, the level of interest is bigger, the rankings position will be higher and to promote him internationally would be easier", said Straka.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/30jiDHq
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