The relentless, arm-juddering power with which Dominic Thiem strikes the ball, in many ways perfectly encapsulates the physical and technological evolution of tennis over the past two decades.
Back when Rafael Nadal – Thiem’s opponent in Wednesday’s night session - first turned professional in 2001, few players could even have imagined playing the game in the fashion of Thiem. After all the Austrian typically plays his tennis from some six feet behind the baseline, lampooning winners off both wings with huge, meaty swipes of the ball.
This power and shot-making ability – and the consistency to do it over five sets – has long seen Thiem earmarked as the pretender to the throne of the Big Three, the player of the next generation most likely to break their dominance at the Grand Slams.
So far he has come the closest – reaching the French Open final in both 2018 and 2019 only to run into the indefatigable Nadal on both occasions – and over the past few months there have been signs that Thiem is finally ready to take the next step.
For many years he was largely seen as a clay-courter, a player mainly capable of challenging for a Slam at his beloved Roland Garros. Until this tournament, Thiem had only once made the quarterfinals of one of the other three majors – the 2018 US Open - a strange record for a player of his talent.
However in 2019, Thiem began to string it together on other surfaces. He won his first Masters title at Indian Wells, and finished runner-up at the end of season ATP Finals, defeating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in successive matches.
Going into 2020, there was a sense of new belief surrounding the Austrian.
“I think we challenged them (Nadal, Djokovic and Federer) already a lot,” he said.
“I really think we see a new Grand Slam champion in 2020.”
Thiem explained that he has begun to find the best ways to utilise his game on hard courts, although he’s undoubtedly been benefited by the unusually cool conditions in Melbourne over the past fortnight, making the surface slower than usual.
“I think that there are two main factors,” he said, regarding his improved hard court results over the past year.
“The first is that I really improve my aggressive game style. I'm coming in to the net way more, and that's just important on the hard courts.
“And then there are also some big advantages for me on surfaces like this. I don't get the backhand in uncomfortable positions. I can hit it most of the time in a pretty good zone for me. That's why I can go many times for a very risky shot, and the possibility that the ball goes in is pretty high.”
So can Thiem defeat Nadal, a player who has so often been his nemesis at the majors in the past?
While their French Open encounters have been largely one-sided, Thiem came desperately close to ousting the Spaniard in New York two years ago, losing a gripping five setter 0-6 6-4 7-5 6-7(4) 7-6(5).
Much may come down to the Austrian’s mental state as much as his game. Perhaps due to the increasing pressure he feels to make a breakthrough, Thiem has occasionally produced erratic behaviour at the Slams. Last year he launched an outburst at Serena Williams at the French Open, accusing her of a ‘bad personality’ after being usurped in the main press conference room by the American.
And in Australia, Thiem made the remarkable decision to hire countryman and former world No.1 Thomas Muster as his coach during the ATP Cup, before bizarrely firing him midway through the Australian Open after his opening two matches.
Thiem was reluctant to answer questions from the media on the subject, saying only, “Nothing bad happened there. But we already said before we started the relationship that if it doesn't work out, we're gonna stop it, and that was the case. I'm 26. I'm not the youngest anymore. So I really have to be careful with my career now. I have to take really the right decisions.”
But despite such off court chaos, Thiem was at his fluent best in the fourth round against Gael Monfils, blasting 31 winners to send the French player packing 6-2 6-4 6-4 in under two hours.
If he can produce similar tennis against Nadal, he may just have a chance.