By Erik Gudris | Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Austria's Dominic Thiem pulled off the biggest win of his young career over Stanislas Wawrinka in Madrid. Learn more about this rising ATP star.
Photo Credit: AP
Dominic Thiem announced himself in a big way with his upset win over Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka in Madrid. Find out more about this rising young player who is already zooming up the rankings.
ATP: Thiem Upsets Wawrinka in Madrid
1. Vital Statistics: Thiem was born on September 3rd, 1993 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. He currently resides in Lichtenwörth.
2. Early Years: With both of Theim's parents being tennis coaches, it was natural for him to pick up the sport. Yet Thiem didn't start playing tennis until age six.
3. Junior Days: In 2011, Thiem reached the finals of the French Open boys’ event where he lost to American Bjorn Fratangelo. Thiem, who reached No. 2 in the junior rankings, ended his junior career by winning the coveted Orange Bowl tournament later that year.
4. Pro Performance: Thiem started his pro career by winning a total of five ITF Futures and Challenger titles between 2012 and 2013. The 20-year-old Austrian surged at the end of 2013. In the Vienna quarterfinals last year, he lost in three sets to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
5. Quality Qualifier: Qualifying for a big tournament is not a problem for Thiem. This season, Thiem successfully qualified in seven out of eight ATP main draw events. That included Rotterdam where he barely lost to Andy Murray in the round of 16. Reaching a career high of No. 70, Thiem entered the Mutua Madrid Open as the youngest player inside the ATP top 100.
6. Madrid Magic: By defeating Wawrinka in the second round of Madrid, Thiem pulled off the biggest win of his young career. Thiem is now the first 20-year-old to score a top five victory since 2011.
7. Thiem Thoughts: Thiem is known for his honest postings on Facebook after each of his matches. On defeating Wawrinka, he wrote, "For me the important thing is but today, that I have not lost: I've played well against Tsonga lost and played well against Murray and lost. Now I won finally against one of the greats. I'm back to lose against so many people in the ranking. But now I know I can win against the best. This makes me proud mega and mega motivation."
8. Idol Worship: Growing up, Thiem admired fellow Austrian pro Jurgen Melzer. Currently he also looks up to Lativa's Ernests Gulbis whom he shares a mutual coach in Gunther Bresnik. “I am learning a lot from Ernests in our training in Vienna. It was wonderful that such a good player came to our academy and that I can practice with him," Thiem told ATP.com.
9. Favorite Things: Enjoys football (soccer) and supports Chelsea FC. He also follows ski jumping. His favorite shot is his forehand and his preferred surface is clay.
10: Social Savvy: Follow Thiem on Facebook and on Twitter.
(Sources: ATP and ITF)