ATP Cup: Thiem loses against Coric - Austria against Croatia 0-2 behind
Dominic Thiem lost his opening match at the ATP Cup in Sydney against Borna Coric 6: 7 (4), 6: 2 and 3: 6. This puts Croatia 2-0 ahead of Austria. Previously, Dennis Novak was inferior to Croatian number two Marin Cilic in just three sets. ( You can find the match in our ticker ).
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 04, 2020, 01:52 pm
The tennis year 2020 did not start well for Dominic Thiem - Austria's number one match against Borna Coric had to give up its very first service game of the season at the ATP Cup in Sydney. And even though Thiem made a dominant second round, the result was a 6: 7 (4), 6: 2 and 3: 6, which gave the Croatians an unassailable 2-0 lead. In the final doubles, Oliver Marach and Jürgen Melzer must now take care of the first point for the Austrians.
After the unsuccessful start to the match, Thiem made it 2-2, but in the seventh game it was Coric who took the break with a break. And initially did not bring the lead over the stage: The Croatian awarded a set ball at 5: 3 and serve Thiem, could not serve afterwards. Thiem took the lead with 6: 5, Coric made it into the tie break.
Thiem was quickly behind with 0: 4, the sides were changed at 1: 5. The Austrian made a small comeback to 4: 5 - and missed a very feasible backhand pass at the first set ball from Coric. 7: 4 in the tie-break after a total playing time of 68 minutes.
Thiem starts with break in set two
There had been four matches between Thiem and Coric before the top game in Sydney, and the Austrian had left the court three times. The last two matches, first on clay in Madrid in 2018 and later in the Paris-Bercy hall later in the year, had gone through three tough sets. The conditions in Sydney were also difficult, as it was still well over 30 degrees Celsius at the beginning of the game in the late evening.
In the Austrian box, there had been a small rotation after Dennis Novak's match: Thomas Muster was still the spokesman as captain, but Nicolas Massu, Dominic Thiem's coach, had taken the place of Wolfgang Thiem.
Set two began with a break from Thiem, the fourth in the world rankings did not burn anything in the following half hour, made it 6: 2. From the Austrian point of view, however, the decision announced disaster early on: Thiem was still able to ward off four break chances in his first service game, but at 1: 2 the Austrian forehand sailed out: Break for Coric. At 2-4, Thiem had three chances to make a comeback, but did not know how to use them. This seventh game alone took more than 14 minutes. But: how it suited this match, Thiem was allowed to break again. At 5: 3, 15:40 Coric first served an ace, then the Croatian conjured up a volley. The net band helped Thiem to the third breakball, Coric fought back. And made clear with the first match ball the 2-0 lead and thus the early victory of Croatia.