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Gunter Bresnik followed former student Dominic Thiem throughout the Australian Open this year and was left impressed by the way the Former World No.4 played in the electric five set final which he lost to Novak Djokovic. “In the short term he will be number 3, in the long term he will be number 1,” Bresnik said on Monday in the ServusTV program “Sport und Talk”.
“Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would have seen Thiem as the future World No.1 some time ago. The 26-year-old has defeated them all several times. The top 3, top 5 - because Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka I don't want to be exempt - he beat everyone during their prime time.
Hats off to the guy. He has the game and he will deliver it,” said Bresnik. He was left impressed on how Thiem has evolved since the time he came into the limelight. “It was unfortunate that the final didn’t quite work out for Thiem.
But there is no shame in losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final. If you've been with someone for so many years, it's interesting to see these little changes." Speaking about Thiem’s present coach – Nicholas Massu, Bresnik said, “Massu is a different type.
The last thing he needs is a senior teacher like me. What is important for Thiem is Massu’s South American mentality. He sees everything a little more loosely, Dominic does it well. The harmony and the pleasant handling by Massu are more important than hard training work in the long time”.