Boys will be boys – and like most boys, Dominic Thiem is not very good at following instructions.
Just like every bloke at Christmas who rips open his present, throws away the box and, with it, the instructions, and stares at his present in dismay when he cannot make it work, Thiem was staring at Denis Kudla after two sets on Thursday, wondering how on earth he was going to make this inspired qualifier go away.
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On a scorcher of a day, Thiem had been given his instruction: play quick, play smart and don’t hang about too long in the sunshine. So he promptly ignored that game plan and spent the best part of four hours booking his spot in the third round with a 6-7 (6) 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-3 victory. He was very pleased with himself. Exhausted, but pleased.
“It’s amazing the feeling right now,” he said when it was all over. “It’s only the second time in my career that I’ve turned it around from 0-2 sets and especially in this very hot weather – it was tough. But it was still nice to play with a great crowd. And of course, I’m more than happy to be in the third round again.
“We practice all year to play in these conditions and this slam is very early in the season, we all basically have just come from the offseason and we are the freshest for this one. But you just have to hydrate well, try not to play too long – which was not the way today.
“I served every well in the first round but Denis, he just played extraordinary. I think he’s full of confidence – he’s won four matches already. And then especially when he was one, two sets up: it was very tough to turn it around.”
In those first two sets, Thiem, as the No.5 seed, was doing his best to pull rank, to show a little authority. He was a man who had been to two Roland Garros semifinals, remember. He had previous experience when it came to negotiating the early rounds of Grand Slam tournaments.
But the problem is that Roland Garros is played on clay. Thiem likes clay. And the Australian Open isn’t. And Thiem doesn’t like that. Show Mr T a patch of red dirt and he is a very happy man. Knowing the intricacies of the slower game, he can dig in for battle and stay there for days, if needs be. Construct a point on clay? No worries. First, bring sandwiches and a tent….
But on a hard court, things are different. And so is Thiem. There is a worrying lack of direction; little sign of a plan B. When things are not going particularly well and the ball happens to come his way, the Austrian can welt it all right – it is just that he is not quite sure why he is welting it or where he is supposed to be welting it to.
So, as he got to work against Kudla, the world No.5 broke and held a 3-1 lead. So far so good. But then Kudla broke back for 4-3. Wearing that look that said: “I’m the seed here; when I break you, you are supposed to stay broken”, Thiem was not having the best of days. He broke again. Kudla broke again. And then Kudla did for Austria’s finest in the tiebreak. This was an upset in the making as the bearded Kudla played like a man possessed.
Which brings us to the sort of in depth, detailed and investigative journalism for which this website is famed.
On an exceedingly warm day, you would imagine that all that facial fuzz would be awfully hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. Apparently not. A swift poll among the more hirsute members of the press pack revealed that not only is the extra fur not an issue, it actually helps. The beard protects the chin from the sun which means it is one less anatomical feature needing to be slathered with sunscreen. And when you are ranked No.190 in the world and earning only a fraction of the fortunes raked in by the top boys, such savings matter. So now you know.
But back to Denis and the tennis. Much as he had done well to back his higher ranked rival into a corner for the first couple of hours, he was having to work awfully hard for every single point. On average, Thiem was taking no more than a couple of minutes to get through his service games while Kudla was scampering around for six minutes and more to keep his serve safe. Eventually, something had to give.
As Thiem pushed Kudla further and further behind the baseline, he was making his hairier foe run further and further. And those legs – muscular and all as they are – were beginning to tire. And the longer it went on, the more mistakes Kudla made.
Thiem, attempting to beat the weather by retreating to the shade at the back of the court and playing his baseline game from there. From there he finally found his range and cutting down on the errors and believing a little more in his abilities, he reeled his opponent in.
It was a patient and hard fought comeback but Thiem will have to play a good deal better from the first ball if he intends to make his mark on the Australian Open this year.