Thiem dislodges Federer from the podium

Small earthquake in the male hierarchy. For the first time in his career Dominic Thiem climbs to third place on the podium behind the inescapable duo Djokovic-Nadal. The Serb confirmed his brilliant form by winning Saturday in Dubai. The boss of world tennis presents a perfect balance sheet in 2020. Three tournaments, three titles (ATP Cup, Australian Open and Dubai) and an unbeaten streak of 18 games. The Spaniard won the 85th title of his career at the same time in Acapulco, Mexico. He partially erased the disappointment of the Australian Open where he lost in the quarterfinals against ... Thiem. The Austrian is the little sensation of the week in the ATP ranking since he is on the podium for the first time in his career.

He takes advantage of Federer's injury

It must be said that the Melbourne finalist (beaten in five sets by Djokovic) benefits from the injury of Roger Federer. Affected in the right knee, the Swiss underwent arthroscopy which forced him to give up all tournaments, Roland-Garros included, until the season on grass. This week, the man with 20 Grand Slam titles, now fourth in the world, could not defend the 500 points of his victory in Dubai last year. His fall in the ranking will continue in the coming weeks (in 2019, he was a finalist in Indian Wells and winner in Miami).

More offensive and enterprising

Thiem, who did not play last week and who remains on a disappointing tournament in Rio (elimination in the quarterfinals) is not however by number 3 by default. Winner of his first Masters 1000 last season at Indian Wells in mid-March (against Federer), he has since won four tournaments and been a finalist in Roland Garros, Masters and the Australian Open. With 16 titles for 26 career finals, the Austrian is a must on the circuit at 26 years of age. Stuck between the Big 3 (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer) and the new generation (Zverev, Tsitsipas, Medvedev). More offensive and enterprising, since he worked with the Chilean Nicolas Massu, the former companion of Kristina Mladenovic has proven that he was not just a clay specialist. But it is still Porte d'Auteuil that he seems to have the best chance of becoming the 150th player in history to register his name in the charts of a Grand Slam tournament.

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