‘I find that amazing’ - Catherine Whitaker shocked at NEW Roger Federer statistic
DOMINIC THIEM has now beaten Roger Federer on all three surfaces - something that has amazed tennis broadcaster Catherine Whitaker.
Indian Wells: Pundit praises Thiem’s performance against Federer
Thiem beat Federer in three sets in the final at Indian Wells on Sunday.
That completed the set of surfaces after victory over the Swiss on clay at the Rome Masters in 2016 and on grass at Stuttgart later in the same year.
Thiem now leads Federer 3-2 in their career head-to-head, with Federer’s two wins over the Austrian coming on a hard court.
And Whitaker believes that is some achievement from 25-year-old Thiem.
He leads the head to head 3-2 and has beaten him on hard and grass. I find that amazing
“Dominic Thiem has now beaten Roger Federer on a hard court, on a clay court and on a grass court,” Whitaker said on The Tennis Podcast.
“That’s quite something isn’t it.
“He leads the head to head 3-2 and has beaten him on hard and grass.
“I find that amazing.”
Thiem’s win over Federer on Sunday landed him his first Masters 1000 title.
And Whitaker says the victory was made more impressive after the nerves he showed before the match.
“Because the women’s final was so good and so long, there was a long delay on the scheduled start time for the men’s final," she said.
“We were watching both of their warm-up shots but I was paying particular attention to Dominic Thiem. Then we saw them get on the buggy and go to court.
"All I could think was just how tense and nervous Thiem looked. His fitness trainer was doing this weird exercise where he had one hand on either side of his chest and was sort of literally trying to loosen up his chest.
“Daniela Hantuchova in our studio thought he was really feeling the tension and his fitness trainer was trying to physically press the tension out of him.
“And so it proved, in those first three games it looked like, ‘Oh goodness me, he’s just crumbling.’
"You could see that his arm weighed twice as much as it usually does and he his movement wasn’t as nimble as usual.
“It looked like it could have been a disastrous day for Dominic Thiem. For me that makes it all the more incredible that he pulled it back and he didn’t panic.”
Federer and Thiem return to action this week at the Miami Open.