After reaching the second round of Wimbledon, Dominic Thiem expressed his increased confidence in playing on grass. The 22-year-old from Austria had won four clay-court titles before wining his first hard-court (Acapulco) and grass-court (Stuttgart) titles this season.
Clay remains Thiem’s best surface, but he is now finding his feet on other surfaces.
"I was feeling not comfortable all the last two years on grass,” said Thiem, who reached the French Open semifinals this year. "I think the biggest difference this year is of course I got a lot of self‑confidence, but the biggest difference I think is my movement.
"I am much more down and much more stable. The movement I think is the biggest difference to the other courts. It's soft. You have to stay low. The balls, they stay low. I think I'm moving much better over grass than the last two years."
At Wimbledon, Thiem defeated Halle champ Florian Mayer in straight sets. He is also adding grass-court elements to his game.
"I also feel a little bit more comfortable on the net, so I'm not scared to play serve and volley couple times," he said. "Also the slice I think it's a little bit more effective than the last year's. Last year's it was just a defensive stroke, and now at least nobody can hit me a winner on the slice. On grass it's one of the best shots."