ATP Doha: Dominic Thiem after comeback victory against Aslan Karatsev in the quarterfinals
Dominic Thiem has reached the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event in Doha. The Austrian defeated the Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev after losing the opening set 6: 7 (5), 6: 3 and 6: 2 and now meets Roberto Bautista Agut . Here you can read the game in our live ticker!
by Florian Goosmann / Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Mar 10, 2021, 04:05 pm
It's been almost a month since Dominic Thiem had to accept the bitter end at the Australian Open. According to the fourth in the world rankings, he would have had to work through a lot, would have had to struggle with the sudden end of the dream of Grand Slam title number two. Now, a good twenty days later, Lower Austria is in much lower regions on the ATP tour against a man who caused by far the biggest surprise down under: the Russian Aslan Karatsev, who stormed from qualification to the semifinals .
Both players serve well
The motto for Dominic Thiem was therefore clear: be there right from the start. A task that is not always easy for the Austrian, he always emphasizes that he needs his time to find his way into a tournament. The Austrian did well in the early stages of this second-round encounter - at least in his service games.
With their own serve, both players didn't burn much in round 1, neither had to go through debut. There was a moment of shock at the end of the sentence when Thiem fired a forehand inside-out, Karatsev got stuck in the rescue attempt and bent slightly - but: nothing happens.
A highlight: Karatsev's tweener winner at 5: 4 - you couldn't play better ...
In the tie-break, Thiem quickly took a 3-0 lead, also thanks to a successful challenge that saw his backhand longline, unlike the line staff, still on the line. Thiem then held the mini-break up to 5: 2 or 5: 4, but then the tie-break slipped away, also thanks to a great return from Karatsev. He came to the set ball on his own serve and held against it in an energetic rally, Thiem ended the opening round with a backhand error.
Thiem with an early break in set 2
In set 2, Karatsev's concentration decreased briefly, two double errors and a backhand error paved the way for Thiem to break, good serves then to a quick 3-0. At 4: 2 Thiem had to make up a 15:40, he finally needed four balls to make it 5: 2 and then served to win the set.
The world number four was able to take this momentum with him to the start of round three. The Austrian managed another early break, which Thiem was able to confidently confirm. Although his Russian opponent played his next service game, the 27-year-old Lower Austrian had now seized control of this game.
Thiem found new break opportunities in the fifth game of the third set, which he finally knew how to use. Aslan Karatsev should not recover from that, the Russian defended himself with all his strength against the defeat, but now had to acknowledge the superiority of the world number four. With 6: 2 Thiem closed the bag after just under two hours.
Quarter-finals against Bautista Agut
In the quarter-finals, Dominic Thiem will now meet the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who was able to prevail against Alexander Bublik earlier on Wednesday. Now on the pitch: Roger Federer in his comeback match against Dan Evans ( here in the live ticker ).