ATP Barcelona: Thiem against Munar to repeat the previous year
Dominic Thiem will face Jaume Munar in the round of 16 of the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona. The Spaniard is currently in the shape of his life and could well cause problems for the Austrian in front of his home crowd - as at least in the first sentence last year. The match will be available from 12.30 p.m. in our tennisnet live ticker!
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Apr 25, 2019, 02:46 pm
In the second round, Thiem had surprisingly few problems with his good friend Diego Schwartzman. The Austrian left the Argentine, who had struggled through the qualification due to the missing registration deadline, with only 6 games in the clear 6: 3 and 6: 3 success and convinced above all with an enormously high rate of first serves.
Thiem placed 81 percent of his first service in the field, but still had to serve three times against the 26-year-old, who is ranked fifth in ATP's official return ranking . The Lichtenwörther against Munar does not have to prepare for such a high return quality, but the Spaniard's game is similar to that of Schwartzman in some respects.
Like the Argentine, Munar does not have the weapons to serve as a permanent pressure on Thiem. The 1.83 meter tall Spaniard serves solidly but without high speed and therefore offers his opponents the opportunity to create opportunities in return games, especially on sand.
Munars game: predestined for good clay court tennis
In his previous two matches in Barcelona against Pedro Sousa and Frances Tiafoe, the world ranked 57. give up his service a total of six times. However, the 21-year-old was able to complete ten breaks and, after losing his first round against Sousa, moved on to the round of 16 without losing any sets.
In any case, the setback is one of the greatest strengths in the game of the Mallorcan, who had prepared for the clay court season together with Rafael Nadal. Munar is extremely agile and also acts stably from the baseline - predestined for a successful game on ashes.
Munar as a guest in the home of his favorite club
The Spaniard in Marrakech proved that Munar can beat the best in tennis. In Morocco he defeated Alexander Zverev, who was currently in a medium-sized crisis . He also challenged Croatian Borna Coric for over three hours at the ATP 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo.
So Thiem must be warned. The 25-year-old feels much more comfortable in Barcelona than in Monte Carlo, but Munar is a clay court specialist who wants to prove himself to his home crowd. The Lichtenwörther felt this at the same location last year: In the only duel against Munar so far, the Austrian had to fight long and hard in the first set. In the end Thiem won 7: 6 (8) and 6: 1.
Another reason why Munar wants to prove himself in Barcelona: The 21-year-old trained for six years in the Catalan capital and is also a big fan of FC Barcelona - the club that Dominic Thiem paid a training visit to at the weekend . And who knows, maybe one or the other player will return the favor by visiting the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.