Is Dominic Thiem a contender to be tennis’ next-best player?

Rafael Nadal has taken his place as the indisputable favourite as the clay season heads towards its logical conclusion at the French Open. But, following right on Nadal’s heels is Dominic Thiem, who has not only been convincing on the surface, but has also made it uniquely his.

The Austrian, then, went on to prove these points with a determined 6-4, 6-3 upset of Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Rome Open on Friday, which ended the Mallorcan’s 17-match streak of wins on clay this year.

There again, while his hapless 6-1, 6-0 defeat at the hands of Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s semi-final was haunting, the 23-year-old is making a huge statement regarding the future of men’s tennis. By presenting to the world a steady side of the younger generation, at such a time when they have largely been consigned to remain in the shadows of the sport’s veterans.

It’s all about the backhand

The first thing that resonates about Thiem’s game is his single-handed backhand, which he wields with power and precision to not only keep his opponents on the backfoot, but also to catch them off-guard, ever so often. His serve and forehand tell an impactful tale of their own, adding depth to his fierce style of baseline play, but invariably they end up being upstaged by his backhand wing.

It’s nothing out of the ordinary to have a player rely more on his backhand than his forehand. But, it does have to be noted that most of these players who prefer to take the shots from their backhand side, play bracingly with the double-handed backhand. Thus, not only do their supplemented dual-handed backhand efforts reduce the margin of errors on their shot-placement, they also have the additional incentive of drawing out the errors furiously from their opponents’ racquets.

Thiem, then, finds himself straddling the lines between tennis’ past and present – and even the future, for that matter – quite momentously. Because, it’s mostly unheard of to have a youngster opt to develop and hone a one-handed backhand when double-handed backhands look to be getting more relevant in current-day tennis, where gruelling, enduring and punishing games are better rewarded.

That he has fashioned himself to be a success staying within the lofty confines of the men’s ranking, but is also pushing the boundaries of this success is then remarkable, for it also serves as a rekindling to the traditional style of play even as chants of the courts slowing down continue to rise in volume.

Much ado about something?

Irrespective of these salient points coming through his game, Dominic Thiem, however, is far from perfect. And, it’s his preference in trying to squeeze in as many as tournaments as he can throughout a season that’s worrying, much as his style of play is inspiring to one and all. The most pertinent example that can be made in this context is in Thiem’s positioning in the Race to London.

Nadal and Federer continue to retain their chokehold in the top-two spots in the Race to London thanks to the starts they have had to the year, with Thiem featuring in the third place behind the Spaniard and the Swiss with 2,085 points stacked next to his name.

However, while Nadal and Federer have played only nine and four (five including the Hopman Cup) tournaments respectively, Thiem has played 13 events already, with seven more months – and the grass and hard court seasons – to follow right after.

What’s equally interesting in this aspect that Thiem had played out his 2016 season in precisely on these same lines, which saw his form dip as the season unwound to its finish, at the World Tour Finals in London. Granted, then, it didn’t affect his ranking much as he did end the season ranked inside the top-eight, but with him expected to be consistent in his presence, it would have been prudent had Thiem opted to make a difference in his scheduling this year, to complement his showing on the court.

Because sooner or later, his nonchalance in trying to over-compartmentalise his schedule will catch up with him. It could cause him to have a flame-out. Or, worse yet, it could lead to injuries that could decisively derail his momentum. Not just in the short-term, but also for the long-run.

In that, too, there’s a lesson to be learnt from the chapters of Nadal’s tennis legacy. For, while the 14-time Grand Slam champion continues to be a force to reckon with, having long played with a crammed schedule, Nadal has borne the brunt of his frenetic scheduling. To the extent that the years where he’s completed a tennis calendar in entirety are sporadic, to say the least.

More importantly, it didn’t take long for Nadal to go from having competently nuanced his game on all playing surfaces to challenge anyone and everyone, to a tennis player capable of playing to his fullest potential only on clay for the remainder of his days on the professional Tour.

With a long stretch waiting for his career ahead, Thiem then would need to do better than just make up numbers. Significant it has been for him to be the only seventh player to notch at least two victories against Nadal on his best-suited surface. Just as it’s necessary to note that only three among the six active players are still working their way through the top-bracket of the sport.