Nadal and Djokovic fired major warning by Dominic Thiem’s coach

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Tennis greats Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been warned that they face fresh Grand Slam competition next year. Dominic Thiem’s conditioning coach Jez Green believes the Austrian star will be back firing next season as he plots his long route back to the sport’s elite after a sustained spell on the sidelines.

Former US Open champion Thiem has tumbled down the rankings from a career high of No.3 in the world to the lows of 165th of late. The 29-year-old has been plagued by severe wrist problems that have completely stopped him in his tracks in his quest to claim further Grand Slam crowns.

Thiem suffered a wrist injury at the Mallorca Championships in June 2021 and is yet to rediscover the form that propelled him to glory at Flushing Meadows two years ago. He spent nine taxing months out injured and returned to action on the ATP tour in March.

Green, who used to work with British hero Andy Murray, has been tasked with improving Thiem’s fitness so he that can consistently compete at a high level on court. And the strength and conditioning coach is confident Thiem will be in peak shape ahead of the first Grand Slam next year, January’s Australian Open.

“He’s fresh, he’s ready, he’s fit and he’s pain-free. With another really big training block in November and December, I think he will be at another level by Australia,” Green wrote in a Tennishead column.

“He will have full power and be even stronger, fitter, and faster than ever before. He’s never really done a strength program scientifically, so we’ve done a lot of strength work in order to make him much more explosive. I think he’s going to end up looking a little different than before, although maybe not dramatically.  It’s not going be dramatic, but people will say: ‘Hey, he looks strong’. Everyone around is starting to notice this body is changing.”

Thiem continues to make improvements to his game ahead of the 2023 campaign and could take positives in his Gijon Open semi-final defeat to world No.9 Andrey Rublev in Spain on Saturday.

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Optimistic coach Green has even tipped his player to compete with serial winners Nadal and Djokovic next season. Legendary duo Nadal and Djokovic share 43 Grand Slam titles between them, but Green thinks Thiem’s previous success in the most prestigious tournaments holds weight as he plans a return back to the big time.

“Dominic has been in two French Open finals, one final in Australia, and he won the US Open, so he’s made five finals,” Green added. “You have to think still that a full power Dominic on clay makes the French Open his number one possibility, but I think all of the Slams are possible. “

“He’s very fresh and has very good motivation. He can have five more years left in tennis, so he has very good possibilities. Make no mistake, Novak and Rafa are not going to want to see a fully fit Dominic Thiem back!”

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