café | atp one shots

01 ; dominic thiem (1)

"y/n, you do realize that you're starting to drop out of the top 50 rapidly? are you really willing to throw away everything you've worked for?" the girls coach exclaimed, sighing in disappointment. y/n kept a straight face but looked down to the ground in defeat. this argument with her coach has been going on for half an hour. this had occurred after had just lost her 5th first round match in a row (china open versus siniakova 6-2,6-2). her year hasn't been the best - more so the worst in her career - and she knows that well; her form was breaking down after every match and everyone around her could only watch.

"i know," she finally snapped, "you think i haven't noticed all the pity in people's eyes? i'm getting older - fuck it i'm 25 years old already and i know i'm already getting left behind by players that are 6-7 years younger than me left and right! i might as well just think of retiring soon for christ's sake!". y/n was angry, upset, sad, and any other emotion you could feel in this moment. she was holding back tears and trying to stop herself from leaving the room. call her dramatic but her parents sacrificed everything they had so she could play on center court in a grand slam - not this. they sat there for a minute, y/n refusing to have eye contact. "y/n relax. i think i have a solution. it's not your age - it's your motivation. now go take a shower and sleep." he said, giving her the approval to leave the deserted court.

she was confused by his words, nonetheless, she kept walking. it was pretty late - about 10:30 pm and it was nice and quiet in the lobby when she had walked in. her footsteps echoed the shiny marble tile as she made her way to the elevated. floor 14. y/n had pressed the button and the doors closed. after the elevator hit the 9th floor, it stopped, then opened to reveal a man. he walked into the elevator as y/n observed him.

'definitely european, red adidas shirt, dark brown hair, grey sweatpants, an iphone xr in his hand, black adidas slides, socks overlapping his pants?... that's kinda weird. and yeah he looks like dominic thiem. WAIT WHAT-'

y/n was brought back to reality when she heard the subtle ping of the elevator that signaled she was at her floor. before she could walk out, she put her arm over the door sensors and faced the familiar man, "good luck on your match tomorrow, mr. thiem!". dominic could only mutter a thank you with widened eyes. he was kinda caught off guard. she looked like a pro tennis player herself, more than a fan, but he admitted, that was kinda ambitious. although, he wouldn't admit that he found it a bit cute. the austrian looked down at the ground, thinking about the past few seconds, but was surprised by a small white cloth on the floor. 'she must have dropped it' he thought, picking it up. it was an adidas bandana with a small writing of "feel the thunder" (a/n: so y/n likes to call her tennis "thunder" because her shots are bold, ambitious, and merciless). he shoved it into his pocket while thinking, 'maybe i can wear it - it can be a good luck charm'.

(he kept it in his tennis bags during all his matches then wore it in the finals)

--

y/n had been wandering around beijing the whole week, taking some pictures for her instagram, trying new foods, and shopping. it was the day of the final and her coach had texted her to watch it. out of pure boredom, she hesitantly agreed. the final was between dominic thiem and stefanos tsitsipas. on her way to the match, she had thought about who she should cheer for. tsitsipas was a mutual friend - they followed each other on instagram and greet each other at parties and he seemed like a really formidable player. thiem on the other hand, seemed like the better player out of the two as he was in a grand slam final at roland garros not too long ago. y/n put her airpods in her ear and admired the city - trying to get tennis off her mind.

--

y/n and her coach had been seated in front row seats with the "best view in the crowd". she had heard that her coach was acquainted with thiem's new coach but it had slipped out of her mind to ask him any questions. the two started the match, tsitsipas holding the lead early in the first set. during one of the changeovers, her coach whispered in her ear, "look at thiem's headband - isn't that yours?". y/n's eyes widened. it must have fallen out of her bag in the elevator. but why would he keep it - even wear it in a masters final? "...yeah" she replied hesitantly. her coach didn't question further - maybe something happened between them so it wasn't their place to meddle. 

tsitsipas took the first set with ease, 6-3. thiem bounced back toward the end of the second set and won 6-4. his momentum carried into the third set as he securely won the tournament, 6-1. y/n was focused on the match. she admired dominic thiem's aggressive groundstrokes and his outstanding defense as well as offense. by the end of the second set, she knew that he was guaranteed to be victorious. his stamina was never ending, even if he was sweating his ass off, which showed that he was truly one of the fittest players on tour. as the match concluded, she hadn't even realized that her eyes were glue on dominic thiem for the whole match.

"game set and match, thiem - 3-6, 6-4, 6-1"

everyone stood up, clapping and cheering. as she clapped, she noticed that it wasn't only tennis when it came to mr. thiem. he was quite the spectacle with his brown locks and heart warming smile. her coach nudged her and spoke, "you're obsessed with him, don't you think?". "i'm not," she laughed, "what makes you think that?". they chuckled, "you did not look at anything else but him for the past 2 hours, y/n." she frowned, "well it's because he's good at tennis, simple as that". "so you don't think he's hot?" they raised an eyebrow. "he's not ugly, that's for sure" the girl remarked, shrugging her shoulders.

"well get used to his face because he's gonna be your new coach - not forever but maybe for a month or two" her coach stated carelessly.

"he's gonna be my what?!" she exclaimed with wide eyes

 to be continued........