'I started to watch Roger Federer when I was...', says Top 5

The absences of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, in addition to the disqualification of Novak Djokovic, offered a great chance to many players at the US Open. Men's tennis has been dominated by the Big 3 over the past decade and a half, a hegemony that is unparalleled in the history of the sport and which has rewritten several laws relating to player longevity. The world number 1 lost his head in his round of 16 match against Pablo Carreno Busta, throwing a ball backwards and accidentally hitting a touch judge. The Serbian phenomenon tried to assert his good faith, but the disqualification was an inevitable consequence. Nadal decided to forgo the trip to the United States to better prepare Roland Garros, while Federer had long ago announced that he would return in early 2021 following a double operation on his right knee. Dominic Thiem is undoubtedly one of the players with the most positive balance against the three sacred monsters, having often managed to put them in difficulty even in the most important tournaments.

Thiem on the Big 3

“I mean, it’s a long story with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic,” Dominic Thiem explained. “”Definitely they are also a part of the player I am now. I started to watch Roger Federer when I was only probably seven or eight years old. When he faced Rafa for the first time at Roland Garros. I was, I guess, only 11. First of all, I was watching, admiring them. Then when I got bigger and older, I was still watching them and trying to learn from them, trying to put the great parts what they have in their games into my game. Then finally the last stage what I came to was playing against them. With every single match, doesn’t matter if it’s a win or a loss against them, it was a huge, huge experience for me. I learned a lot from every single match of them, against them, also every win against these three players, which are without a doubt the three greatest players which ever played that sport. So every win against them was a huge boost of confidence and a huge experience" - the World number 3 added. In a heartwarming act of gratitude, tennis superstar Roger Federer has thanked an Australian healthcare worker in a surprise Zoom call. Melbourne-based critical care nurse Helen Richards has been combating the Victorian coronavirus outbreak at Monash Health Hospital.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2RoNT0z