Thiem on Zverev: "Clearly the best, if..."
Dominic Thiem had only words of praise for his former opponent on the sidelines of MotoGP.
After some bitter final defeats, Alexander Zverev is experiencing the best year of his tennis career so far.
After the German had previously left the court as the loser in three consecutive Grand Slam finals, he was able to win both the French Open and the US Open this year, thus celebrating his first two major titles.
His first bitter Major final defeat came a good six years ago when he had to concede defeat to Dominic Thiem in a five-set thriller in New York.
Zverev was "sensational"
On the sidelines of the MotoGP in Spielberg, the Austrian had only words of praise for his former opponent.
"I simply love watching tennis, and I followed the US Open intensely. How Sascha played the tournament was sensational. It was clear to see that he was a class better than his competitors in both the semi-finals and the final," says Thiem.
He further adds: "If you exclude Alcaraz and Sinner, he is clearly the best player out there."
Thiem sees parallels
The 33-year-old is reminded of his victory at the US Open.
"It was similar to my experience; he also lost Grand Slam finals against Sinner and Alcaraz. When both were out of the French Open for the first time, he was the big favourite. That's really tough, perhaps even similar to having to beat one of the 'Big Ones' in the final. To play through the draw with all that pressure was impressive," Thiem concludes.
