The uncanny resemblance between Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka

The similarity between Thiem and Wawrinka goes beyond aesthetic abilities.

Stan Wawrinka- Swiss Superstar, 3 Time Major Champion, former World no. 3 and one of the most feared players in the tennis world.

Dominic Thiem- Austrian Ace, French Open finalist and perhaps the most powerful player in tennis today.

Style of Play

On the surface, both have different styles of play. Thiem has great foot speed but is poor at the net. Wawrinka is better with his volleys and net play while being comparatively slower, which could be attributed to his age. Stan has proven himself to be an all surface player while Thiem is still looked at as a clay-court specialist. Wawrinka, while living in the shadow of his more illustrious countryman Roger Federer, laid down a marker on the tennis world with his career-defining 2013 season when he established himself as a major threat in all tournaments. Thiem is yet to do that, outside of clay

The differences, however, end there. Both Wawrinka and Thiem have hard-hitting ground strokes with a potent serve. Both have a single-handed backhand that they can hit with power and precision. Both have games well suited to clay, with long winding groundstrokes and an ease with how they move on court, a very important factor while playing in clay. Both Thiem and Wawrinka are aggressive baseliners who can hit their opponent out of the court on their day. More importantly, both of them have excellent stamina and can stay on court for 5 hours and still hit shots with incredible power.

Consistency issues

What’s more striking is that both players have struggled with consistency. Wawrinka, before his breakthrough 2013 season, was pretty much non-existent in the top 10. He was ranked just outside the top 15 for 4 consecutive seasons showing a distinct lack of growth and consistency, in what was supposed to be his prime years as a tennis player. Thiem has similarly lacked consistency in his play. Even on his favorite surface, Thiem reached the final of the Madrid Masters, but then lost in the first round in the Italian Open. This year, he reached the final of the French Open, but then lost in the first Round in Wimbledon, albeit due to injury. He lost in the 2nd Round in the Toronto Masters but then put in a career-best Quarter finals in the US Open. They’re both wild cards when it comes how they perform.

The two matches to compare

And this brings me to the two matches that I want to compare.

• Wawrinka-Djokovic Australian Open 2013: Winner- Djokovic: Scoreline: 1-6 7-5 6-4 6-7 12-10
• Thiem-Nadal US Open 2018: Winner- Nadal: Scoreline: 0-6 6-4 7-5 6-7 7-6

The first match is the 2013 Australian Open match between Wawrinka and Djokovic. Wawrinka played out of his mind that day. He played the best match of his career but left Melbourne with another fourth-round loss stamped next to his name. Similarly, Thiem (probably) played the best match of his career against Nadal in the US Open and still lost. The scoreline is similar too, with Stan handing a bread-stick to Djokovic in the first set while Thiem handed a bagel to Rafa in the first set. The next 3 sets are almost identical. The US Open has the fifth set tiebreaker rule which the Australian Open(and other Majors) don’t because of which the Nadal-Thiem match ended with a tiebreaker and not the normal extended final set.

The improvements required

And this is where Thiem has to learn from Wawrinka. Stan would go on to win the Australian Open the following year, beating his 2013 conqueror Novak Djokovic in another 5 set thriller. Stan brought a bit more variety to his play by increasing the amount of topspin on his forehand, which brought him more net clearance rather than the flat forehand which was prone to errors. Variety is what has been lacking in Thiem’s play.

He beat an obviously compromised Djokovic in the Quarter finals of French Open 2017 but was then thrashed by the rejuvenated Rafael Nadal in the Semi finals. He was again, comprehensively beaten by Nadal in the French Open final in 2018. However, the US Open loss will be different. He pushed Rafa to 5 sets, in what is agreed to be a slow hard court. It obviously hurts to lose while being that close, but Thiem will undoubtedly take positives from this match, just as Wawrinka did after his Australian Open loss to Djokovic.

The question is, can Dominic Thiem replicate Stan Wawrinka’s success? The 2019 French Open could perhaps be his hunting ground. Wawrinka beat Djokovic in the stadium that’s given him success, the Rod Laver Arena in Australia. Can Dominic Thiem do the same to Rafael Nadal in his beloved Phillipe Chatrier?