“Nishikori is A Tough Lot”: Dominic Thiem Reacts to Facing Kei Nishikori at ATP Vienna Open 2020

Defending champion Dominic Thiem is all set to go into the 2020 Erste Bank Open as the second seed. The tournament scheduled for Oct 26- Nov 1, 2020, finds Thiem in a rather difficult half in the draw.

The event is also known as the Vienna Open and will see top men’s tennis players battle it out on indoor hard courts.

Thiem, who defeated Diego Schwartzman last year to clinch the title, will look to ride on the home advantage going into the tournament. He, however, has to face Kei Nishikori in his very first match. When asked his thoughts on the same, he said, “Nishikori is a tough lot, but of course, that was to be expected.”

The Japanese last played at the French Open 2020 and was majorly out with injury after that. He will be making a comeback at the tournament with a “protected ranking.”

Thiem’s coach is also wary of the Nishikori factor going into the tournament and is looking to prepare by watching enough videos of him before matchday.

“He’s a real champion, of course, crazy player. I hope, of course, that it is currently not in the shape it was two or three years ago,” said coach, Nicolas Massu.

“But I’ll make sure that I still have a few good preparatory training sessions and then I’ll be fully there on Tuesday,” he added.

If the US Open 2020 champion crosses the Nishikori hurdle, he will be up against Stan Wawrinka, a 3-time Grand Slam champion, in the 2nd round.

Dominic Thiem and other players in the tournament

Dominic Thiem has not hesitated one bit in saying that the Vienna Open is a very strong tournament. It will see seven of the Top 10 ATP players compete for the title this year, including the World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

The tournament features top players Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Diego Schwartzman. Djokovic will be playing in the tournament for the first time since 2007. On the other hand,  Thiem will make his 10th appearance.

The world No. 1, along with Rublev, will be keen to go for an ATP Tour-best fifth title of the season. The Russian has moved up to a career-best of 8 post the Hamburg Open and St. Petersburg Open win.

Vienna Open will also see players like Gael Monfils, Denis Shapovalov, Karen Khachanov, Grigor Dimitrov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Kevin Anderson competing for the title.