US Open champion Dominic Thiem: I’m not a machine

Dominic Thiem during his match v Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov at Melbourne yesterday. PIC/AFP

US Open champion Dominic Thiem said he was not a "machine" and simply had a "real bad day" in stumbling out of the Australian Open to Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday.

The Austrian third seed, a finalist last year, was shocked 4-6, 4-6, 0-6 by the Bulgarian to miss out of a place in the quarter-finals. He admitted to dealing with "some little physical issues", but didn't want to elaborate, insisting: "I don't want to find any excuses. But the thing is that I'm also not a machine," he added.

"I mean, sometimes I would like to be, but there are really, really bad days. As soon as you're not 100 per cent there on the court on this level, then results like this come up, and that's exactly what happened today."

World No. 3 Thiem looked tired during the clash on Rod Laver Arena and was unable to feed off the spectators, with fans banned until at least Thursday after Melbourne went into a snap five-day lockdown.
Thiem simply struggled to match the intensity of the Bulgarian, who won seven of 15 break points compared to the Austrian's two from seven. "I think since probably 10 years or a little bit less, he's one of the best players on tour. If he's on, he's super tough to play," Thiem said.

"I really wish that he can make a great breakthrough at a Grand Slam. He would definitely deserve it. As I said, I was not on a 100 per cent today, and it doesn't matter if it's Grigor or anybody else, everybody is way too good that I beat them if I'm not 100 per cent," he added.

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