WHEN it comes to Austria’s chances at the 2021 ATP Cup, plenty rests on the shoulders of 2020 US Open winner Dominic Thiem. The world number three won his first Grand Slam having come runner-up to the respective GOATS of the Australian Open (Novak Djokovic) and Roland Garros (Rafael Nadal).

TEAM:

Dominic Thiem
Dennis Novak
Philipp Oswald
Tristan-Samuel Weissborn

There is no sugar coating it, the chance of victory lies solely with the talented Thiem who is far and away the top Austrian. The 27-year-old can match it with anyone in the world, and it showed by making the 2020 ATP Finals decider. He has more ATP Tour ranking points than every other Austrian player put together, and will be eyeing off rising up the rankings more with a full year in 2021.

One aspect about Thiem is that he can play on clay or hard court, so is not just restricted by the surface. He will feel comfortable at Melbourne Park, and worries a lot of players on Rod Laver Arena and the like. He could, and should, win his singles 95 per cent of the time in this tournament, which gives his nation an immediate head start. The only issue then lies in finding the other win in order to go through to the next stage.

Luckily being a seed, Austria immediately avoids the other three nations in Serbia, Spain and Russia, so Thiem should claim the win. Dennis Novak avoids quality second players, though with the exception of Greece, he will start underdog in all his singles matches. A perfect group would be Greece and Japan, but unless that happens, the European nation might struggle.

In the doubles, the Austrians do not have their best combination, with second choice Philipp Oswald and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn named instead of the highly successful duo of Jurgen Melzer and Oliver Marach. Though the latter pair combine for a total age of 79, they are still inside the Top 30. The 42nd ranked Oswald and 109th ranked Weissborn still have plenty of doubles experience but will be underdogs in most games.

One cannot help but feel Thiem might be throw into the doubles to pair with Oswald, given the star player is only four places behind Weissborn in the doubles rankings off just eight tournaments. He is an effective doubles player, he just understandably prefers to focus on his singles. If Austria can win the doubles, they can keep going deep in the tournament, but as has already been mentioned, so much rests with Thiem.

If Thiem wins, then Austria has a good chance of getting up. If he loses, then it’s all but curtains for them given their lack of depth. It will be fascinating to see how they approach the tournament.

Picture credit: Ella Ling/ATP Tour