ATP Barcelona: Dominic Thiem can take the lead against Guido Pella
Dominic Thiem faces Guido Pella in the quarter-finals of the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona (fourth match after 12:30 p.m.). The 25-year-old from Lichtenwörther has had good experiences with the Argentine.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 26, 2019, 07:22 am
Sometimes it does apply, the saying that someone "should finally knock the buck over". Dominic Thiem was so free at the 2018 Australian Open. There the lot with Guido Pella had given him an opening opponent against whom Thiem had previously lost on two occasions - in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and in Chengdu in 2017. To a certain extent twice, after Rio, Thiem was the tournament winner from Buenos Aires Aires arrived, slightly exhausted in a dewy Pella. And for the Austrian number one, the Asia Autumn Tour is basically a chore.
However, Grand Slam tournaments are naturally at the top of Thiem's agenda, and so the 25-year-old Lichtenwörther showed a rock-solid performance in Melbourne in early 2018, winning three times with 6: 4. The balance sheet balance followed a few weeks later in Buenos Aires, where Thiem won 7: 6 (7) and 6: 4 on the way to the title in the quarterfinals against Pella.
Who sits where in Thiem's box?
So on Friday it is all about the internal series leadership, Dominic Thiem can see himself as a favorite in the fourth game after 12:30 p.m. (live on Sky, in Austria also on ServusTV, and in our live ticker). The two lectures against Diego Schwartzman and Jaume Munar were solid, especially the Argentinian buddy Schwartzman from three previous matches in Barcelona.
The exciting question with Dominic Thiem these days is also who is sitting in the Austrian's box. And where. In any case, Nicolas Massu's position had taken on Wolfgang in the match against Munar.
Pella also had three matches in their legs before Friday, on the way to the quarter-finals besides Benoit Paire and Joao Sousa also defeated the Russian Karen Khachanov. So Thiem is warned in any case. Especially since the Argentine in Monte Carlo against Rafael Nadal had shown a great performance. Dominic Thiem would like to do this himself in Barcelona - in the event of a victory, it would probably be against the Spanish clay court king in the semifinals.