ATP Madrid: Reilly Opelka gives up - Dominic Thiem in the next round
Dominic Thiem benefited from a task by the American Reilly Opelka in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. The 21-year-old had to give up at 6: 7 (2), 6: 3 and 1: 0 ( click here for the LIVETICKER ).
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: May 07, 2019, 11:09 pm
by Nikolaus Fink from Madrid
Somewhat surprisingly, Dominic Thiem had to play his opening match in Madrid on Tuesday. After all, his opponent Reilly Opelka had to struggle through the qualification - the American had therefore not had a day off from play since Saturday. Due to the fact that Wednesday in the Spanish capital is traditionally kept free for second-round games, Thiem should have looked a little puzzled at the schedule for Tuesday.
In addition, because the Austrian, who was a major tournament favorite alongside Rafael Nadal, was not allowed to play on the largest court in the facility. Thiem had to make do with the Aranxta Sanchez Vicario Stadium and had to do so in spite of his so far very successful season with tournament victories in Indian Wells and Barcelona in front of sparse seats - he owed "this fact" to Roger Federer, who was at the same time on the Manolo-Santana-Court made its clay court comeback .
Opelka dominates with a premium, Thiem from the baseline
Right from the start, Opelka demonstrated why Thiem had described it as a "very tough" first task. The 21-year-old served consistently over 200 km / h and did not burn anything at first serve - the Austrian always positioned himself meters behind the baseline and only advanced with the second service of his opponent.
From the baseline, Thiem had his advantages from the start, as expected, and he seemed to have identified Opelka's backhand as a weak point with his coaching team around Nicolas Massu - especially if you aimed at it with a deep slice. This plan almost worked out early in the game, but the French Open finalist of the previous year gave a break possibility at the 2-2 level - all the more bitter since Thiem's mistake happened in a baseline duel.
Weak tie-break from Thiem gives Opelka set lead
One game later, the Lichtenwörther had to fend off a break opportunity himself, but with three good serves Thiem confidently freed himself from this difficult situation. Opelka did the same in the next game and defused two more break options for the fifth in the world rankings. The last of the whole sentence should remain - a tie break had to bring the decision.
In this, the previous year's finalist gave his opponent two simple points with a double mistake and a forehand error. That was too much: Opelka served enormously in the quick decision and won the tie-break 7-2. Thiem had to leave the square for the first time to regroup.
A break in the second set is enough for Thiem
That didn't seem to help much with the return games. In the first set, Thiem had at least a few chances with the serve goals of the world rankings-58. found, he found it significantly more difficult in the second section. The Lower Austrian varied the position on setback frequently, but this had no positive effects on his game at all.
It was only when Thiem returned to the gang at 4: 3 that the returns found their way back into the court. This time the changeover should pay off immediately - the Austrian broke to 5: 3 and then served after a breakball after a big break Cheers from the - still not many - viewers to win the set.
After the second sentence, Opelka suddenly had her lower back treated. The physio kneaded, but could not get to grips with the giant's problems. After only one service game, in which Opelka did not make a single first serve, he went to the net and shook Thiem's hand.
Fognini or Millman are waiting in the round of 16
In the round of 16, Thiem will face Fabio Fognini or John Millman on Thursday. The Italian beat Kyle Edmund in two sets in the first round, Millman defeated Steve Johnson in two highly competitive tiebreak sets. The duel between the two increases on Wednesday.