Dominic Thiem has set out his stall to make it to the French Open main draw after the start of the clay swing.
Thiem reached the last eight of the Estoril Open and is relishing the change of pace on the ATP Tour.
It has been a slow climb back up the rankings for Thiem who spent a long time out of the game with injury.
Thiem admits that he hit a bump in the road in the first quarter of the 2023 seasonThiem hopes to ensure that he won’t have to get involved in the Roland Garros qualifying tournament to take part in the second Grand Slam of the year.
He is currently just inside the ranking cut-off for Roland Garros and after a great start in Estoril, it would appear that the goal he has set himself is attainable.
“I am playing better and better, just the results in the first quarter of the year were not there,” said Thiem after he beat Ben Shelton in the Round of 16 in Portugal.
“But this part of the season, I love it, European clay-court season.
I have a big short-term goal to reach the main draw of the French Open. Every match win, all the points are helping me, so quarterfinals is a good first step.”
