Monday 19 June 2017 14:49, UK
Clay specialist Dominic Thiem is hoping for a smooth transition onto grass as the Austrian prepares to take on Maximilian Marterer at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, live on Sky Sports.
Thiem reached the semi-finals of the French Open earlier this month, enjoying a straight-sets victory over Novak Djokovic in the last eight before succumbing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
The 23-year-old has been tipped as a future Grand Slam winner - having also beaten Nadal and Andy Murray this year - but Thiem is wary that those achievements have come on clay.
"It was a great clay season," Thiem said. "I played really good but it's completely different on grass. I hope I make a good transition, but it's almost a different game here so we'll see.
"I took them [big names] down on clay so everybody knows it's a different story on grass. You have to play well and also have a bit of luck. It's a strong draw and it will be an interesting tournament."
Thiem is seeded second in Halle, with Roger Federer [1], Kei Nishikori [3] and Alexander Zverev [4] all in action at the warm-up tournament for Wimbledon.
Federer has won in Germany eight times, and will look to put his shock defeat to Tommy Haas at the Stuttgart Open behind him when facing Lu Yen-Hsun in the first round.
Thiem can only meet Federer in the final, while a semi-final meeting with Zverev is also possible - the Austrian cites these two players as the danger men in Germany.
"On grass many players can be dangerous because one break can decide a whole set. The big serves get more dangerous but the best players her are Roger and Zverev," Thiem added.
"Even if I have an early exit here it's not the end of the world. It can happen a lot on grass, but still I am aiming for a semi-final. That would be great."
Monday's action on Sky Sports 2 HD culminates with Thiem taking on German qualifier Marterer.
For those on the move, we will have Queen's Club, Halle and Wimbledon covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win The All England Club titles this summer? Have your say...
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