Dominic Thiem – the challenger in making to Djokovic's throne?

When Ivan Lendl, the legendary American tennis player and 8 time slam winner, saw Dominic Thiem play for the first time at the tender age of 17, he made a phone call to Adidas, insisting the German company to sign the Austrian kid on a long-term deal. Adidas duly obliged and it's fair to say Thiem has let neither Adidas nor Lendl down with his surge up the rankings, moving up to 15 this past Monday.

While Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dimitrov, Jack Sock and the likes have flirted in and around the top 20, the one player who has steadily gained momentum, without getting as much hype as his peers, is the 22 year old Austrian Dominic Thiem. The youngster is the youngest player in the top 20, add to that a deadly baseline game and an inscrutable attitude, Thiem looks to be the complete package and here to stay.

Now with last night's win over Grigor Dimitrov in the Apaculpo Open, Thiem has eliminated a former champion yet again, just like he did with Nadal at the Argentina Open. The win also means Dominic Thiem has reached the last four of each of the past three tournaments he has participated in. The reward for this impressive run? A career high ATP ranking of 15, which could further rise depending on how he fares in the semis. So what sets the kid apart?

Style of play

A strong wristy backhand with the unique ability to hit flat, as well as inject dizzy top spin, Thiem stands out from the crowd. Unlike most single handed backhanders, he doesn't opt for the slices on return and prefers to go through with the shot, often choosing to attack with them down the line from the ad court. Lendl noted, "His backhand-down-the-line is phenomenal. I'm sure he'll go to enter the top 10".

Topspin backhand return and slice backhand from Dominic Thiem

— Randy Walker (@TennisPublisher)

One step at a time some might say, but for a player with such potential, aiming anything less than a slam win would seem unfair. But to reach that goal, he would need to probably make some tweaks to his game still. For instance, he barely comes to the net, something possibly the entire present tennis generation can be criticized of. But Thiem's movement down the baseline gives him an extra edge, especially with a natural aggressive instinct. Couple that with his indefatigable energy and agility and it's easy to see why he prefers staying rooted behind the baseline.

But where does all this assiduity and rigor come from? Why a single handed backhand when almost every up and coming player uses both hands? Two words, Gunter Bresnik.

Gunter Bresnik is an Austrian legend, not because he won slams as a player (he captained Austria in the Davis Cup though) but because of his association with Boris Becker. Legend has it that when Dominic Thiem's father joined Bresnik's academy as a coach, he asked Gunter to mentor his son and with that started the successful and still active association of Bresnik and Thiem.

It was Gunter that changed a young 12-year-old Thiem's double-handed backhand to a single-handed one, thus adding more aggression to his play from both wings.

From climbing trees to doing push-ups with chairs against their chests, Resnik accompanies Thiem right through it all. Thanks to the unconventional drills and training regimes, Thiem's below hip strength has improved staggeringly, moving much more in tandemm which helps his on court movement. When asked about Resnik, Thiem smiled and said, "He's just a wicked guy".

The future looks bright for the Austrian, with scalps like Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Kevin Anderson, Gael Monfils, Nicolas Almagro and Grigor Dimitrov under his belt already, the only way is up. With a down to earth nature and the able guidance of Resnik and Bresnik, it shouldn't be long before he starts to take down the big guns in the majors. And that is where his real test shall start.

Dominic Thiem is almost on the pedestal where he and many experts believe he belongs, but now can he capitalize on this elevated stature with a sustained run towards the top or win championships? Can he be the one to challenge the crown Djokovic seems to have made his own? Can he finally be the nextgen star that the tennis world has been craving for? The signs look positive so far and he has a chane to prove it to the world when he squares up against Djokovic at the semis of French Open. Time for Dominic Thiem to match his billing.