Tennis – Thiem stands up for Vienna in Frankfurt

“UTS is a really, really cool event,” said the 31-year-old Lichtenwörther at a media event on Tuesday. “The anticipation is huge. I’m going to enjoy every minute.”

At the three-day event in Group A, Thiem will face the Australian Alex de Minaur, his compatriot Nick Kyrgios and the Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who only lost in the final in Tokyo on Tuesday. Ben Shelton (USA), Jan-Lennard Struff (GER), Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) and Gael Monfils (FRA) meet in Group B.

Thiem is taking part in the innovative tournament format for the third time. “It was an incredible experience being on the pitch at UTS. Anything can happen, it never gets boring. Physically it’s incredibly intense,” said Thiem. Everything is more relaxed and informal. “But when you run in, it’s a serious matter. Then you will do one thing above all else: win.” Thiem knows Frankfurt very well, also because his closest friend lives there, as he said.

Thiem opens the tournament on October 18th at 5:00 p.m. against De Minaur, a day later against Kyrgios (2:30 p.m.) and Humbert (9:00 p.m.). The top two teams in each group will play in the semi-finals and finals on Sunday (3 p.m.).