ATP Barcelona: Dominic Thiem opens against buddy Diego Schwartzman
Dominic Thiem meets Diego Schwartzman at the start of the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona (third match after 12:30 p.m., live on Sky and in our live ticker). The last time Thiem lost to the Argentine was in Buenos Aires.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 23, 2019, 12:44 am
Diego Schwartzman was not invited when Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev were guests at FC Barcelona training on Saturday. What Schwartzman was able to cope with for two reasons: first, the 26-year-old won his first qualifying round against Jozef Kovalik. on the other hand, Schwartzman's famous compatriot Lionel Messi was missing when he met Thiem and Zverev. At least the brilliant left foot was not to be found on the pictures communicated on social media.
Of course Dominic Thiem also dedicated himself to his main job on Saturday, trained under the guidance of coach Nicolas Massu. The Chilean had said after Thiem's departure in Monte Carlo that the time for the Lower Austrian to adjust to the conditions in the principality was too short. Now Thiem has acclimatized in Barcelona, but meets Schwartzman against an opponent who already has three matches on site in his legs. After qualifying, Schwartzman won his first-round match against Yoshihito Nishioka in three sets.
Thiem 2018 out in the quarterfinals
Thiem and Schwartzman know each other well from their youth days, are friends with each other, and recently even reached the double finals together in Buenos Aires. At that tournament, however, the two also met in the semi-finals of the individual. Thiem gave the local hero too many gifts, however, and gave the lead in the third set. Schwartzman lost the final against Marco Cecchinato the next day without a song.
In the overall balance of the two Dominic Thiem still leads with 3: 2 victories. Should the 25-year-old Lichtenwörther prevail against Schwartzman (third match after 12:30 p.m., live on SKY and in our live ticker), he would meet the winner of the match between Jaume Munar and Frances Tiafoe in the round of 16. Last year Thiem had failed in the quarterfinals against Stefanos Tsitsipas.