ATP Estoril: Dominic Thiem with a feasible start, possible duel with Sebastian Korda
Dominic Thiem dares another attempt at Estoril's ATP 250 event to win his first match since returning to the ATP tour. The Austrian meets Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in Portugal at the start, Sebastian Korda could wait in round two.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Apr 23, 2022, 08:09 pm
Again, Dominic Thiem didn't necessarily get it bad when it came to the draw. As in Belgrade, the returnee will not be up against a top-seeded player at the start, with Benjamin Bonzi waiting in Portugal for a man against whom the Austrian can have legitimate hopes of winning his first match since his injury break of several months.
Most recently in Belgrade, Thiem lost in three sets to Australian John Millman in his first match on the ATP tour in almost ten months, while Benjamin Bonzi recently reached the main draw in Monte Carlo. As a lucky loser, mind you. Thiem is currently five places ahead of the Frenchman in the world rankings - but the former third in the world rankings is threatened with a significant relapse in the coming weeks.
Thiem with a possible quarter-final duel with Auger-Aliassime
Of course, a good performance in Estoril would counteract that. In round two, Thiem could face the American Sebastian Korda in the event of a victorious start. He defeated Carlos Alcaraz just a few days ago. Possible quarter-final opponent Thiems would be the number one of the tournament, Felix Auger-Aliassime. However, the Canadian has rarely been able to make his fans cheer on clay recently.
So if the Lower Austrian manages a dream run in Estoril, he could go up against the Monte Carlo finalist Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina in the semifinals. On the other half of the tableau, Diego Schwartzman and Marin Cilic are the most likely semi-finalists according to the seed list.