Gunter Bresnik: I have made some stupid statements about Dominic Thiem

Coach Gunter Bresnik admits it hurts him that his collaboration with world No. 3 Dominic Thiem ended on the way it did as even he is unsure what actually went wrong. 

Thiem, a back-to-back French Open runner-up, started the 2019 season with a first round loss in Doha and a second round showing at the Australian Open -- which was more than disappointing for the Austrian tennis superstar. 

In early February 2019 -- while Austria was playing Chile in a Davis Cup tie -- rumors began to swirl that Thiem was considering adding Chilean Davis Cup Team Captain Nicolas Massu to his team.

The news soon became official and the 26-year-old Austrian shortly after split with his long-time coach Bresnik. 

"Thiem and I formed a very good duo and we achieved great things, but he had a few difficult months on the game and the victories and he made a decision.The story with Dominic hurts a lot. It was almost a lifetime's work for me. It was also very difficult for me to lose Wolfgang (Thiem, Dominic's father). He was not only a great coach, he was also a long-time friend. I have no doubt that if life gave me the opportunity to train a player like Thiem, I would embrace it. Not to accept such a proposal would be absurd. I do not understand what happened. I never had any problems with Thiem and his parents. Every time I give an interview, they get angry. I hope that our relationship will improve and that we can at least have a relationship based on respect," Bresnik told Kronen Zeitung, as revealed on We Love Tennis France. 

Gunter Bresnik hopes as the time goes by the old friends will get over their hard feelings 

Bresnik has made some negative statements about Thiem and now he admits there were times he was wrong.

Thiem never publicly said the real reason for the split with Bresnik but once noted that his former coach knows very well why their relationship ended.

"I have no problem saying that I was wrong and that I made stupid statements. It doesn't help with such comments. On the contrary, it makes our relationship even worse and we reach no agreement. I hope Dominic succeeds in doing great things and shows that he is destined to be a great player capable of winning important titles," Bresnik said.

Gunter Bresnik still works with 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz and 2014 French Open semifinalist Ernests Gulbis.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3eAAJag