Thiem downbeat on Slam chances

Austrian Dominic Thiem admits it will be tough to break the Grand Slam stranglehold of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The 26-year-old Thiem is currently ranked at number five in the world but is still searching for his elusive first Grand Slam title. His closest attempts have been at the last two French Open tournaments where he reached the final on both occasions before losing to Nadal – who won at Roland Garros for the 11th and 12th time. The top trio have won all 12 Slam events between them since 2017, with Stan Wawrinka’s triumph at the 2016 US Open the last time anyone else tasted victory. And, there appears to be little stopping them from winning more despite a crop of up-and-coming players, including Thiem, showing promise. Thiem says while the ATP 1000 Masters have shown there are some good players, they need to step up another level to win a Slam event. “The change of generation is half completed, you can already see it in the Masters 1000s where things got balanced,” he said. “The only thing we need to do is to win Grand Slams. They are only won by the three. I think seeing a new Grand Slam winner is difficult.”