The No. 7-ranked Dominic Thiem, who was crushed by No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of Rome, says his game is not suited to playing Djokovic.

Djokovic is now 5-0 against Thiem. They played three times last year, with the Serbian winning fairly easily in Miami, the French Open and the ATP World Finals.

“Against Novak, it's really tough for me to play, I mean, because he doesn't give me any time,” said Thiem, speaking to press at Rome. “I don't really like to play against him, because he has a game style which doesn't fit me at all,"

The 23-year-old Austrian defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and had gone deep in Barcelona and Madrid, falling against Nadal both times. But he went down against 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic 6-1, 6-0, saying he was tired from all his recent play and Djokovic was locked in.

“He was really there from the first point. He was pushing himself,” Thiem said. “I was not surprised. I was expecting that from him, but I couldn't really do anything against it, because I was empty.

"It was the first time for me to play on such a high level for three weeks or more, and today I paid a little bit the price for that.

"I was just not mentally on the level I should be against these opponents. It happens from time to time if you play a lot of matches. And if it happens against a guy like Novak, 6-0, 6-1 or a score like this, is the logical outcome.”

Thiem will stay at No. 7 in the rankings.

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Dominic Thiem admits struggles with Novak Djokovic matchup

Dominic Thiem admits struggles with Novak Djokovic matchup

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