Dominic Thiem named Austria's sportsman of the year

World No. 3 Dominic Thiem has been named Austria's sportsman of the year following his outstanding 2020 campaign on the ATP Tour, per Nikolaus Fink.

Thiem has won only one title in 2020 but that title came at the US Open, where the 27-year-old recovered from two sets down in the final to beat top-ranked German tennis player Alexander Zverev for his maiden Major title. 

At the beginning of the season, Thiem fell just short landing his maiden Grand Slam title as he was edged out by world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a five-set Australian Open final. 

"I am very happy. I want to congratulate all other nominees - they would have deserved it as well. I am very proud to be in the list of Austria's sportsmen of the year," Thiem said after winning the award, per Nikolaus Fink.

Thiem, who failed to defend his Vienna title after losing to eventual champion Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal, has announced that he has recovered for the Nitto ATP Finals.

"After losing in the quarter-final at my home tournament in Vienna I recovered from my foot injury,” Dominic Thiem said on his website.

“It took me two, three days to recover, then I started my preparation for the final in London at the O2-Arena.”

Thiem calls the Nitto ATP Finals the 'final goal'

A year ago, Thiem fell just short of winning his maiden Nitto ATP Finals title as Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas edged him out in an extremely tight final 6-7 (6) 6-2 7-6 (4).

“On Wednesday I am leaving for London with a ‘mini-team’. The final goal of 2020, the memories of last year are nice!" Thiem said.

"During the group phase I beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, I beat Alexander Zverev in the semi-final.

“Then I had that 6-7 in the third set against Stefanos Tsitsipas. It were just a few points that decided heaven or hell.”

Recently, Thiem spoke extremely highly of world No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas while giving an interview for his site.

"He has had a tremendous improvement! He came, he saw, he conquered. Stefanos has established himself quickly, plays attractive and uncompromisingly aggressive tennis. People like his way of playing, a young go-getter. We will surely play some thrilling matches against each other," Thiem said of Tsitsipas.

After winning his maiden Grand Slam title, Thiem will certainly be extra motivated to finish the year with his maiden Nitto ATP Finals title. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36AxHke