ATP Cup: Hope lives - Dominic Thiem & Co. dream of advancement
After the 3-0 win against Argentina, the Austrian team's hope for promotion has returned. Against the already eliminated Poland, it will need another victory to move into the round of the last eight.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Jan 07, 2020, 11:59 am
The tide can turn that quickly. After the 3-0 defeat against Croatia, there was still a hangover, the Austrian team is looking forward to the future after the 3-0 win over Argentina - on Wednesday (from 0:00 a.m. live on ServusTV and in the Tennisnet ticker ) it will be about the rise against Poland.
Dennis Novak is primarily responsible for the fact that the Austrians can still dream of reaching the quarter-finals. The 26-year-old celebrated an amazing comeback in his game after a catastrophic start and forced the world ranking 25. Guido Pella with 0: 6, 6: 4 and 6: 4 in the knees .
"I have to apologize for the first sentence, but Thomas then gave me a cabin sermon. I'm very proud," said Novak. "It was one of the maybe five best games of my career," said the Austrian further.
Thiem and Marach / Melzer follow suit
Even with victories by Dominic Thiem and the Austrian pairing of Oliver Marach / Jürgen Melzer, the chances of advancing if Novak were defeated would have been negligible - with a match ratio of 2: 4, it would have been a great deal of luck and protection for other teams on the last two match days needed.
However, it is not only Dennis Novak who owes the fact that there is now a very realistic opportunity to progress - Dominic Thiem and Marach / Melzer also did their homework with flying colors and were able to defeat Diego Schwartzman and Maximo Gonzalez / Andres Molteni in two sets.
"I wasn't happy with my first game, but I knew that I could improve from game to game. Every match against Diego is difficult, it's long and spectacular points. I'm glad we won today," said Thiem.
Hurkacz in top shape
A great challenge awaits the fourth in the world rankings on Wednesday. With Hubert Hurkacz, Thiem meets a man in top form: The Pole won both Schwartzman and Borna Coric. In addition, Hurkacz won the only duel of the two so far with 6: 4 and 6: 4 in Miami last year.
Not an easy task for the Lichtenwörther. At least according to the paper form it should look a little different with Dennis Novak: The Austrian meets the world rankings 448 in the first game of the day. Kacper Zuk.
For the first time, Novak, who is expected to make his debut in the top 100 in the world rankings next week, would be a clear favorite at the ATP Cup. Another victory of the 26-year-old would again cause euphoria in the Austrian team - and would increase the hope at Thomas Muster & Co. even more.