Thiem's Best Run On Grass Continues

In recent years, Dominic Thiem has experienced an array of clay-court success. The right-hander has won six ATP World Tour titles on the red dirt and has twice reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros.

But Thiem has largely struggled to replicate that success on grass. He's well on his way to changing that narrative, though, during this fortnight at Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old Austrian continued his best run at The Championships on Saturday, beating #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 to make the fourth round of the grass-court Grand Slam for the first time. Thiem had never reached past the second round at the All England Club, falling in the round of 64 the past two years.

He entered Wimbledon this year after a shaky start on the grass as well, having fallen in the second round at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and during his opener at the Antalya Open in Turkey. But Thiem has put it all past him and has improved his level match by match at SW19.

“I think I'm, in general, a better player than I was last year. This is also paying off on grass. It's different than on clay. On clay, I can go back on the returns and everything. It's just not possible on grass, and that's why I try to play more aggressively and to take the balls a little bit earlier,” Thiem said.