Dominic Thiem had only 15 inches to spare. If he had stepped any farther back to return serve during his fourth-round match in Louis Armstrong Stadium, his back would have been against the wall, literally.
During the second set against Kevin Anderson, Thiem made contact with a return of serve standing 63 feet, nine inches from the net. From back wall to net, the stadium measures 65 feet.
The deep return position strategy helped Thiem beat the 2017 finalist for the first time on hard courts (0-6) and reach his maiden US Open quarterfinal. The 25-year-old ended a six-match losing streak in Grand Slam fourth-round matches outside of Roland-Garros.
“I could change my return position, and this helped me a lot. And also the court, I think, made a big difference. It's a huge court. I could go very far back like I do on clay, usually,” Thiem said.
When the Austrian faces top seed Rafael Nadal on Tuesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, it may be a contest to see who can stand farther back inside the even more spacious stadium, which measures 66 feet – one foot more than Armstrong – from net to wall. In Nadal's third-round match, he made contact with a return at 58 feet, two inches from the net.
The Spaniard trademarked the strategy last year during his title run – his third in New York – and Thiem, whose similar heavy-topspin, big-stroke game rivals the Spaniard's on clay, has copied the pattern this fortnight for his best US Open result yet.
“It's a huge difference,” Thiem said.
He may very well take advantage of that extra foot he'll have in Ashe. Asked if he preferred even more space than he was allotted, Thiem smiled and gave an honest answer.
“First serve, no,” he said, “but second serve, I would, maybe half a meter, so I have the backhand with a more comfortable hit.”
The positioning works for both players because it gives them more time and allows them to take full swings at returns, said Darren Cahill, coach of WTA No. 1 Simona Halep and former coach of Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt, both of whom rose to No. 1.
Nadal likes to return with heavy topspin, rather than flattening it out, similar to Agassi, Cahill said, and the only way to do that is by standing farther back. The unconventional positioning also gives him more time to make the significant grip change between his two-handed backhand and his full forehand grip.
“Everything is better for him to give himself more time,” Cahill said.
The same can be suggested for Thiem, who's won 10 titles – eight on the high-bouncing red clay. The Austrian tried the deep return position against Anderson earlier this year in Madrid. He had lost all six of his matches against Anderson before that, including a 2015 third-rounder in New York. But Thiem won at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, 6-4, 6-2.
“I played him three years ago on Court 17, which didn't allow me to go that far back. It helped me a lot,” Thiem said after their Round of 16 matchup. “Against him, still, the most important [thing] is to put as many balls back into play as possible.”
The deep position also helps Thiem and Nadal well after their service return. For Nadal, the longer the rally goes, the more the 17-time Grand Slam champ benefits. So even if he's only brought the point to neutral with his return, said Cahill, “That's a huge positive for him.”
For Thiem, the positioning places him closer to where he wants to be throughout the point. “He likes to stand a long way back, take a full swing at the ball, control the point from the first return... He doesn't like to bunt the return and then have to step two or three steps back to defend,” Cahill said. “So this way, if you stand further back, take a full swing, you're actually stepping a couple of steps in to get closer to the baseline and you can defend better.”
The strategy isn't for everyone, even if they, like Nadal, play all their matches inside Ashe. Novak Djokovic, for instance, doesn't struggle to return big serves and already takes a small swing.
“So for him, it's an option if he wants it, but he's more effective standing closer to the baseline, and he's got a huge wingspan and a great stretch,” Cahill said.
It wouldn't have worked for Cahill's former pupil, two-time US Open champion Agassi, either. The eight-time Slam champion didn't have the speed of Nadal or Thiem, and he didn't play with the same amount of topspin.
“What worked for him was to...play aggressive on that first return of serve and try to get ahead in the point straight away,” Cahill said. “That worked for him. Standing back works for others.”
Nadal uses both tactics. “Depends on the moment of the match, depends on the opponent,” Nadal said.
Through four matches, he has averaged hitting his return 14.5 meters, or almost 47 feet, six inches, behind the net, a statistic that includes second-serve returns. Thiem, meanwhile, has averaged making contact 13.6 meters, or about 44 feet, six inches, from the net.
If the strategy isn't working for the Spaniard, though, expect to see a variety of different looks against Thiem, whom Nadal has beaten in seven of their 10 matchups. The Spaniard changes his plans mid-match almost better than anyone.
“He's the first guy to make the adjustment, stand in, show his opponent a different look, take a shorter swing, block that return back, get it into play,” Cahill said. “He's always making adjustments, and that's why he's one of the best problem-solvers in the game.”
