Dominic Thiem is a player with a special style. Tennis is obviously synonymous with elegance and game, but he has managed to bring out the burning and releasing feeling of triathlon.

The most typical match that proves Thiem's ​​playing style is not on clay, but the 2020 US Open final.

"Tim VS Zverev".

For that match, expectations were rising before the game.

People are looking forward to a "battle of contradictions". Thiem's ​​offense encountering Zverev's defense should be able to create a classic, just like the legendary duel of "Federer VS Nadal", and witness the ascension of the first "post-90s" singles Grand Slam champion in history.

No matter how you look at it, this should be a powerful clash that will go down in history, and may even open a new chapter in men's tennis.

However……

Thiem's ​​honesty and Zverev's conservatism made all the sharp edges disappear. The tit-for-tat collision turned into an endless tug-of-war. The battle of contradictions turned into a baseline fight, and there were no exciting rounds. It was just a tug-of-war.

Even the commentator was drowsy. It was a torture and an agony.

"2:6", "4:6", "6:4", "6:3", "7:6(9)".

In the end, the two players fought a five-set battle. Thiem chased back two sets after losing the first two sets, and in the deciding set, he broke Zverev's serve to win the championship after being broken first. He dragged the match into a tiebreak, saved match points continuously, and successfully won the championship.

Judging from the score alone, people would inevitably think that this should be an epic showdown; however, this is not the case.

After the game, all the major professional media believed that this boring and suffocating tug-of-war was a torment for the players, the audience and the commentators; but no matter what, Thiem still had the last laugh with his strong physique and tenacious will, and fought his way out in the competition among the new generation.

Obviously, no one expected that after all the twists and turns, Thiem would become the first Grand Slam champion among players born after 1990; what was even more surprising was that it was not the French Open?

But... this is competitive sports, everything is possible.

Perhaps, from the perspective of spectators and from a competitive perspective, the US Open final between Thiem and Zverev was not exciting, and there were many complaints; however, from the perspective of a professional player, the tenacity Thiem showed on the physical and mental levels was completely worthy of the final victory.

There is no room for any player, at any time, to let their guard down when facing Thiem.

Now let’s turn our attention back to the present, which is 2015.

At present, Thiem has not completely transformed. His explosive progress should be in 2016. Whether it is the Grand Slam Masters or facing the top ten players in the world, he can feel the change. But taking a step back, Thiem advanced to the top 16 at the US Open last year and ranked in the top 40 in the world, which proves that -

In terms of ability, Thiem is very close to breaking through the critical point. His current troubles are more psychological, so his performance is up and down.

This year, Thiem will compete in the French Open for the second time in his career.

In his first competition last year, Thiem made it to the second round, but unfortunately was eliminated; this year, having witnessed his own progress and growth, Thiem also hopes to go further than last year's result. Carrying the momentum of winning the Nice championship last week, Thiem came to Roland Garros with full confidence.

What's more, this second round of competition has more significance——

The opponent is Gao Wen, who is not only a good friend of Thiem, but also a leader of the new generation and a well-deserved leader among the "post-90s" players.

After the defeat in Miami, Thiem came to the clay court where he is best. He believes that he has the ability to defeat the top 20 or even the top 10 players in the world, and now is the time to prove it through practice.

If he goes all out, can he beat Gawain? If he burns up his energy, can he go one step further? Tim is eager for victory and excited about fighting.

In fact, Tim thought and did so.

Without reservation.

Give it your all.

In the first set, Gawain showed his experience and maturity from the start. Although he is younger than Thiem and has less experience in professional competitions than Thiem, Gawain handles the big scenes, big games and big situations far better than Thiem, and he quickly widened the gap in the opening stage.

At the beginning, Gawain seized the opportunity when Tim had not gained a firm foothold, and scored eight points in the first ten points, breaking and defending, taking the lead.

“2:0”.

Thiem was indeed not fully prepared and fell behind at the start, but at this time, Thiem also showed his tenacity and determination. He quickly gathered his mind and gained a foothold in his second service game. Although Gawain tied the score, Thiem did not give away break points and successfully held his serve.

Afterwards, Tim did not panic. He devoted himself to the game, slowly adapted, and continued to look for opportunities to compete head-on with his own strength to decide the outcome.

Thiem's ​​irrational style of attacking and defending, and using every shot to exert force, did indeed cause Gawain a lot of trouble. If there was a slight gap in the quality of his return ball, he would be hit by a storm of impact. The heavy and spinning ball was even more troublesome. To some extent, it was even more troublesome than Nadal.

After all, Nadal has been on the tour for more than ten years. Although he still fights for every ball, he will not be so tense for every ball: against Thiem, there is no room to breathe and adjust. The confrontation and confrontation throughout the game requires nerves to be tense and to play all the way to the end.

The mental exhaustion is even more severe than the physical exhaustion.

However! Gawain stood firm.

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In the first set, he faced six break points, but he successfully saved all of them, showing the style of a Grand Slam champion and maintaining a break advantage until the end.

"6:4".

Gao Wen won the first game.

But will Thiem surrender? Of course not.

From the very beginning, Thiem has been a dedicated player. No matter what difficulties he encounters, he will not give up easily. Even if his body protests, as long as his feet are still on the court, he will burn himself unreservedly and fight to the last moment.

What's more, this is a Grand Slam tournament, this is the French Open, the holy land that Thiem has always dreamed of. Even if he loses, he will try his best to show himself and then turn around and leave with his head held high.

The match entered the second set, and this set alone took a full eighty-three minutes, almost catching up with the time required for an entire hard court match.

"6:7(5)".

This time, Tim had the last laugh.

Throughout the game, Thiem got a total of eight break points and Gao Wen got a total of seven break points. Both players missed all of them, with a break success rate of 0%——

Or to put it another way, the two players had a 100% success rate in saving break points, which shows how intense the match was.

Among them, Gao Wen saved three set points in his serve game when he was trailing 4:5, and dragged the game into a tiebreak with his unparalleled performance.

However, Thiem still showed his style as the "Little Prince of Clay" at the critical moment, and won the tiebreak with a better and more exciting performance.

The score was 1:1, and the best-of-five match was now a best-of-three match. The outcome was still a huge mystery.