Dominic Thiem admits he may get 'very lonely feeling' at this year's US Open

World No. 3 Dominic Thiem admits he may get a bit of a lonely feeling at times at this year's US Open since there won't be any fans in attendance.

The 26-year-old Austrian is set to make his seventh appearance at the US Open as he is aiming to claim his maiden Grand Slam title.

"Tennis is such a mental sport and I guess it makes it way more difficult without fans, because I just imagine playing in the fifth set on Arthur Ashe, night session, way past midnight and in a normal year you get so much energy from the fans. They give you so much," Thiem said, per Ravi Ubha.

But Thiem says it could also be an interesting experience 

"And now, in an empty stadium, maybe your coach and your team is there, these are the only people, that makes it, I guess, very, very lonely, very, very tough, and that's going to be a very interesting thing to experience."

Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Andy Murray is looking forward to returning to action for the first time since 2019 November. 

Murray noted his focus will be on remaining healthy and added that he is feeling fine in the US Open bubble.

"Now I'm in a position to compete again, hopefully play in a major. I'll try my best to reduce the risk of having setbacks," Murray said, per Sports Mole.

"I played a lot of tennis four weeks in a row before the Davis Cup when my hip started hurting. Obviously won't make that mistake again."

"I would say going into the hotel was a little bit of a concern. Then when you get in there and you see everything that they're doing to make sure it's as safe as it can be, then I felt quite relaxed," he said.

"Since I got in, I've been tested twice. There's security kind of making sure, not just at the hotel, but on the site, that everybody has their masks on. There's hand sanitiser everywhere. From what I've seen so far, I mean, everyone seems to be doing the right things.

"It's nice. They've done a really good job at the hotel. They've got games and arcades and things like that, which I enjoy. I'm still a bit of a child in that respect. They've got that.

"They're putting on different food in the evenings for the players. We can get delivery. The room is absolutely fine. You have a gym there. So, yeah, it's absolutely fine."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/34wob1M