ATP Cincinnati: "Curious" Dominic Thiem meets Filip Krajinovic at the beginning
Dominic Thiem meets Filip Krajinovic at the start of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. In view of the special circumstances, the tension in the Austrian is great before the game against the Serbs.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 24, 2020, 12:54 pm
It has been almost exactly six months since Dominic Thiem played his last match on the ATP tour. When the 26-year-old lost to the Italian Gianluca Mager in two sentences in Rio de Janeiro on February 22nd of this year, nobody could have guessed that the Austrian's next appearance on the men's tour would not follow until six months later.
On August 24th, the time has finally come: Thiem will make his comeback in the second round of the ATP tournament in Cincinnati. The Lichtenwörther will meet the Serb Filip Krajinovic, who Thiem has never faced on the ATP tour, from 1:00 a.m. CET ( live in the tennisnet ticker and on Sky).
Two wins in two games
There have already been two duels away from the big stage between Thiem and Krjainovic, both times the Austrian was able to assert himself. In 2013, Thiem left nothing to burn in the semi-finals of the Challenger event in Casablanca with 6: 2 and 6: 1 success, this year the three-time Grand Slam finalist won 4: 3 (2 ), 2: 4 and 4: 2 victory much more to fight.
Unlike in New York, Belgrade played in front of the audience. Not least because of the special requirements, Thiem was quite tense in the run-up to the encounter: "I feel relatively comfortable, I just don't know where my tennis stands compared to the others. I have played a lot of exhibition matches, but at I haven't had that tension, that focus that I have in a Tour match. I'm curious how it will be. "
There are virtually no distractions.
Dominic Thiem
Thiem does not expect that the balance of power in men's tennis has shifted due to the long break: "I don't think that there will be a big difference in terms of strength by the time the tour has ended. I believe that everything will go back to normal . "
Safe and solid
According to Thiem, "maybe even a little easier" to focus fully on the tournament because of life in the bubble: "You have to do a test every four days, but otherwise there are practically no distractions. We are either on the course or in a hotel. You can't do anything. That makes it actually easier to concentrate on the essentials. "
Concentrate on the essentials - these four words could probably also be used to describe the game Filip Krajinovics. The world number 32, who beat Salvatore Caruso in the first round, is not known for doing crazy things on the pitch. The Serb builds his game with a solid serve and secure basic strokes, but is also not afraid to go online - so nothing extraordinary. However, a victory over Dominic Thiem would be just that: extraordinary.