Father Wolfgang reveals Dominic Thiem's upcoming schedule and plans

World no. 4 and the Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem will return to action next week at the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro, leading the field ahead of Matteo Berrettini and Diego Schwartzman. The Austrian decided to skip this week's ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires where he already claimed the title in the past, taking more time off the court and working on his game at home in Vienna ahead of South America trip on Thursday. Speaking for tennisnet.com, Dominic's father Wolfgang revealed his son's plans for the upcoming weeks, eager to continue where they left in Melbourne and hoping to pass Roger Federer and earn the spot in the top-3 for the first time in a career.

Thiem started with the training run on Sunday in the capital of Vienna, working on his fitness and with Marko Andrejic and Dennis Novak on the court. Nicolas Massu will join the team in Rio de Janeiro, seeking the first title since 2017 there ahead of another long trip to Los Angeles for more fitness training. Massu will be back after the Davis Cup Qualifiers round and they will work on the court for a couple of days before the start of the first Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells. After a slow start at the ATP Cup, Thiem defeated world no. 1 Rafael Nadal en route to the final at the Australian Open, leading 2-1 against Novak Djokovic but still finishing on the losing side, still waiting for that first Major trophy. 

"Dominic started to train on Sunday with the fitness coach Duglas Cordero who arrived in Vienna a day earlier; they will work together until Thursday. Junior Marko Andrejic trains with him and Dennis Novak also joined them on Tuesday. Dominic and Cordero will fly to Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, with Nicolas Massu waiting for them in Brazil. We expect no problems in adjusting to clay, Dominic is at home on the slowest surface. After Rio, Dominic will fly to Los Angeles, embracing two weeks of fitness training with Dr. Michael Reinprecht. I will also be there as Massu is busy with the Davis Cup in those days. From March 8, we will switch our focus on tennis and get the best possible preparation for Indian Wells and Miami."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38nnQO9