ATP Hamburg: Thiem starts against Cuevas, Zverev start against Jarry
Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev drew unpleasant startups at the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg. The Austrian opens against Pablo Cuevas, for the German against Nicolas Jarry.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jul 20, 2019, 09:04 pm
"The tournament is incredibly busy," Dominic Thiem had said before the draw for the ATP 500 event in Hamburg, Germany. This should then immediately prove Austria right: the fourth in the world ranking opens against Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas.
The 33-year-old is considered a clay court specialist and has already defeated Thiem twice in six duels. This year, however, the Lichtenwörther against Cuevas is still without defeat, but both at the clay court tournaments in Buenoas Aires and Paris gave one sentence.
If the top seeded Thiem succeeded, it would be against Philipp Kohlschreiber or Marton Fucsovics, after which Cristian Garin could wait for the first seeded player. The Chilean has already celebrated a tournament victory on German ashes in Munich this year. In addition, Jan-Lennard Struff and Fabio Fognini are two other unpleasant professionals in Thiem's half.
Zverev against form-fitting Jarry
But Alexander Zverev, who has seeded two, did not get much better at his home tournament. The German first meets Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who is currently in the final in Bastad and has already beaten Zverev in Barcelona this season. The 22-year-old was able to retaliate in the Geneva final with a narrow success.
Jarry seems to be comfortable in Hamburg. Last year, 23-year-old Dominic Thiem defeated in the quarter-finals and only lost in the semi-finals to eventual tournament winner Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Georgian is fourth in Hamburg this year and would be a possible semi-final opponent for Zverev.
Previously, the German could have to deal with clay court lover Marco Cecchinato or Federico Delbonis in the second round. In the quarterfinals, according to the seed list, the Serb Laslo Djere would wait for Zverev.