Dominic Thiem: No other player can be compared to 'one of a kind' Roger Federer

World No. 3 Dominic Thiem showed great admiration and respect for Roger Federer as he said "no other player can be compared" to the record 20-time Grand Slam champion.

Thiem, 26, captured his maiden Grand Slam title two weeks after coming down from a 2-0 deficit in the US Open final to beat German Alexander Zverev. 

After the final, former world No. 1 Federer reached out to Thiem to congratulate him on winning the biggest title of his career.

"Roger congratulated me on my US Open win, I promise,  I will do everything so that Roger remains No. 1 (smiling), no other player can be compared to Roger, he‘s one of a kind, a much more aesthetic and elegant player than I am," Thiem said.

THIEM:“Roger congratulated me on my USO win, I promise, I will do everything so that Roger remains No1 (smiling) , no other player can be compared to Roger, he‘s one of a kind, a much more aesthetic and elegant player than I am“ via @Blickch #bamos #federer

— Brian🇨🇭 (@camerlengo73_2) September 27, 2020

Thiem took the full advantage of the Federer and Rafael Nadal absence 

Both Federer and Nadal skipped the US Open, while world No. 1 Novak Djokovic was defaulted from his round-of-16 match after hitting the lines women. 

At the Rome Masters, Djokovic said Thiem absolutely deserved to win a Grand Slam.

"You want to see young guys coming up, doing great things, breaking records, being the youngest whatever that reach top 100, 50 or 10 or winning against No. 1 of the world. We need those stories, as well, for tennis. I think it's great," Djokovic said after winning Rome.

"And I think it's fantastic that we have that many young, successful, already established successful tennis players on the tour.

"So that's probably the ultimate challenge we have in our sport, to be No. 1 in the longest season in sport.

"But, you know, the young guys are showing some great perspective, some great potential. I think mentally and also physically and game-wise they start believing more. I mean, you know, you have new Grand Slam champion, Dominic Thiem, which is fantastic to see also. He deserves it absolutely.

"So I think tennis -- I mean, you know, I want to believe tennis is in good hands. I really see a lot of great potential, not just on the court but also off the court, some personalities, Shapovalov, these guys that are interesting and fun guys.

"I feel like tennis maybe needs to help these guys express themselves a little bit more and create better brands, I feel like, you know. Because it's obviously everyone wants to win slams and be No. 1 in the world, but I think we have to also focus on expanding the list of brands that we can present to the world in sports."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3jb8RMD