"He's probably the best role model" - Thiem on taking inspiration from Nadal during comeback

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Dominic Thiem completed a comeback win over Giron in Gijon and the Austrian is taking inspiration from Rafael Nadal during his comeback.

It's not the first time he's looked to Nadal for inspiration, but this time he's concentrated on how the tennis player handled injuries. Nadal has experienced a lot of setbacks throughout his career, but he has always been able to bounce back effectively and reach his top level fairly comfortably again.

"He's probably the best role model for this experience," Thiem told As after his round-one victory in Gijon. "He did it not just once but four or five times to come back from a long injury time of six months or even more. And the form was always amazing. So it's a great inspiration."

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Thiem also added that he keeps playing because he feels that he can win a grand slam trophy again: "I have the belief that I can win a Grand Slam again. If not, I would give up my career. I went through bad times but I would have the feeling that I am getting closer to my best version."

With his win over Giron, Thiem is in the quarter-finals waiting to see whether he'll face Cerundolo or Guinard next.

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