"This is new tournament, new challenge" - Thiem doesn't want to think about US Open triumph during his Roland Garros campaign

Dominic Thiem has won his first Grand Slam title when he defeated Alexander Zverev in the 2020 US Open final, now he has another challenge ahead of him in form of the Roland Garros.

The 27-years-old Austrian broke a streak of 3 lost Grand Slam finals when he lifted his first trophy in Flushing Meadows a few weeks ago. Now, he's full focus is on the Roland Garros where he was a runner-up in 2018 and 2019. Thiem wants to break also this streak as he now has the experience with winning a Grand Slam title. He'll take on Marin Cilic in the first round and so the Austrian faces a really difficult draw in Paris this year.

“I felt great coming here because, I've achieved such a big goal,” said Thiem on Friday, in Paris. “At one point, whatever comes now is somehow a bonus. On the other hand, I want to do the best I can in every single tournament I play. Especially here in Roland Garros, [where] I [had] four crazy years with two semi-finals [and] two finals."

“I love the conditions here. I love the whole tournament. First practice yesterday, I straight away felt great with the conditions, with the clay, in the Suzanne Lenglen stadium. I tried to not think too much about the US Open, but to see this as a new tournament, as a new challenge. To be as good as possible from the first point on.”

“I was enjoying the US Open triumph obviously at home with family and friends,” said Thiem, who played on clay in Austria for two days prior to arriving in Paris on Wednesday. “I tried not to lose all the tension, tried not to do nothing for too long. I did nothing for three or four days, then I started to practise on clay. But I'll see how I handle all the emotions, also all the physical challenges which happened in New York. In the past, I was not that great playing the tournaments, after big titles like [the BNP Paribas Open in] Indian Wells last year or [the Erste Bank Open in] Vienna. I've always played not that great the following week. I will try to do it differently here in Paris [and] try to be on top of my game from Monday onwards.”