TENNIS INSIDE OUT
Dominic ThiemStan Wawrinka

Thiem and Wawrinka Practice in Cincy — The Bad, The Worse, and the Abandoned

Val and J.D.

Western and Southern Open Dominic Thiem backhand

The Toronto / Cincy Masters double before the US Open has not been going well for Dominic Thiem. Up in Canada last week, the pro player well-known for his uber-packed yearly schedule had booked himself into both singles and doubles. On Monday, he withdrew from doubles.
 


 
Two days later, Thiem fell in his first singles match of the tournament to eventual finalist, #NextGen leader Stefanos Tsitsipas. While the Greek youngun’ can clearly be a formidable opponent, their match was more notable for the fact that Dominic seemed to be moving in slow-motion and yet was breathing quite heavily on the changeovers.

While the early exit from Toronto gave Thiem a few extra days to attempt to recover, his practice in Cincy on the weekend seemed to indicate that he was still in some physical distress.

The continually threatening rain had added an oppressive humidity to an already fairly hot day, so it was no surprise to fans to find the notoriously sweaty Thiem practicing shirtless.

Western and Southern Open Dom Thiem backhand practice

Thiem smle grin
 
Dom went through some of the usual practice paces, with vigorous serving and rallying, and as you can see in the photo above, seemed in good spirits.

However, as the practice progressed, it became notable how often Thiem was adopting a hunched-over pose, gripping his knee tightly enough to invite speculation he had possibly injured himself.
 
Domi Thiem illness withdrawal from doubles in Cincinnati and Toronto
 
This position is pretty much a universal sign of distress in the tennis world, though it can appear for anything from cramps to stomach pains to joint injury to just plain emotional torment at missing a shot. In Thiem’s case, it seemed to indicate something on the more worrying end of the spectrum.
 

 
Despite not feeling his best, Thiem arrived on site the very next day, this time for a practice with Stan Wawrinka.
 


 
Western and Southern Open Dom Thiem practice session with Stan Wawrinka
 
Unfortunately for fans who had gathered to see two top players slamming one-handed backhand winners at one another, things went awry with Thiem very quickly this time.
 


 
Masters tennis Stan the Man Wawrinka
 
Though there were no overt signs of distress this time, it seemed Thiem made a very quick decision that he was not feeling up to an intensive practice sesh with the Stanimal. While perhaps not as humid as the day before, Sunday had turned into an absolute scorcher, with retina-searing sunlight baking everything in its path.

Dominic lingered in the shade for a few more minutes with his team, then ultimately decided to pull the plug.
 


 
While this was obviously not great news for Thiem and his prospects at the tournament, it also meant that Wawrinka was going to be left out on court completely alone — which makes it kinda hard to get a really good practice in.

Thankfully, Dom’s coach Galo Blanco decided to step in and help out, so Stan had someone to hit with as well as offer insight/advice as desired/needed.
 

 
We here at Tennis Inside Out weren’t able to stay at the practice until the very end, but we viewed about 45 minutes of practice. Wawrinka looked in good form, not too fussed about the heat other than finding shade on the breaks, and Cincy fans will surely be hopeful we’ll see more of the impressive Stanimal-level of play that he displayed just last week in Toronto.

And since we know the Swiss Slam champ has a good sense of humor, we’ll throw this in here:
 


 
As for Dominic, the bummer news for all tennis fans on Sunday was the much-anticipated night session doubles match between Dom & Diego Schwartzman and Fernando Verdasco and Philipp Kohlschreiber was not going to happen.
 


 
We wish Dominic a speedy recovery, and you all can follow us @TennisInsideOut on Twitter for any further info on Thiem’s status.



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