Dominic Thiem feels Novak Djokovic is the ultimate favourite to win the Wimbledon this year. However, he still does not want to write off Roger Federer.
The 2020 US Open winner discussed the favourites at the ongoing Wimbledon with Sky Sports. Without much thought, Thiem picked Djokovic at the top of the pile. However, he also felt that players like Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini along with Swiss legend Roger Federer will have their chances.
“Novak is the absolute top favourite,” Thiem said. “Sascha, Medvedev and Berrettini can be dangerous. Never write off Federer. He’s such a legend, such a good player. I’m looking forward to the matches. I’d rather be there but it’s still interesting to watch from a distance.”
The Austrian sustained a wrist injury which is keeping him out of the Wimbledon action. It was during the Mallorca Open when Thiem was facing Adrian Mannarino in the second round. He was late to a forehand and as a result, he cracked his wrist.
“In Mallorca, I hit a forehand too late, I tried to play the ball into the court by snapping my wrist and it quite cracked,” said Thiem. “I never had problems with my wrist before so I felt right away it might be more serious. Unfortunately, it turned out to be true.”
The World No.5 was not allowed to do any exercises apart from abs and back regime. However, he revealed that he is working on his endurance as he wants to be physically ready.
“I wasn’t allowed to do anything for the first few days except abs and back exercises, now I can slowly start running again,” continued the Austrian. “I’m trying to get my endurance back to a good level so that, as soon as I’m allowed to pick up the racket again, I’m 100% physically.”
The Austrian is mindful of taking it slow and not rushing it as it may inflict another injury. Hence he wants to be totally sure before even beginning his racquet training.
“Otherwise it could happen that other parts of the body start to hurt and I want to avoid that. If my physical fitness is at 100% when I step back on the court, it will take me less time to reach a reasonably good level again. I want to bring everything to the best possible level,” he concluded.
