ATP Masters Madrid: Dominic Thiem - "The semifinals are sensational!"
At the latest with the hard-fought quarter-final victory against John Isner at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, Dominic Thiem has impressively returned to the top of the world.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 07, 2021, 05:04 pm
For Dominic Thiem, trips to Madrid in recent years have mostly been characterized by beautiful victories, here the Austrian beat Stan Wawrinka for the first time in 2014, a man from the absolute top of the world. In 2017 and 2018 Thiem reached the final, but until now he was denied the big triumph. The quarter-final success against John Isner on Friday in the Caja Magica is certainly one of Dominic Thiem's outstanding experiences in the Spanish capital.
For several reasons: Isner proved in the initial phase why he had knocked two real experts out of the tableau with Roberto Bautista Agut and Andrey Rublev in the course of the tournament. In contrast to the game against the Russians, Isner also shone against Thiem as a setback. "I was surprised by the return performance, he even went full on the first serve," Thiem said in an interview with Sky immediately after the match. And starting with a break against Isner, as happened to Dominic Thiem in the first act, is like starting with a sentence deficit.
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Thiem with outstanding footwork
Now Thiem was known to have come to Madrid with a certain uncertainty and an inevitable lack of match practice, and with Marcos Giron had gladly accepted a rather easier opening task. The game against Alex de Minaur could have been pretty tough, the Australian at least had a set ball in the first half.
Against John Isner, Dominic Thiem showed the virtues that brought him to the top of the world: persistent power tennis, remarkable footwork and, yes, a certain flexibility in the return position. In any case, he was surprised by himself and what he had achieved: "The semifinals are sensational."
Physically ready for the Kapazunder Zverev
With regard to his opponent in the semifinals on Saturday (live on Sky and in our live ticker), the reigning US Open champion practiced understatement. "I don't know if I'm ready to play with the two Kapazunder," Thiem said. Physically, however, he definitely is.
Before the match between the Kapazunders Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev, Thiem had seen the Spaniard in front with 51:49 percent. But then it became Zverev, who had an impressive week in Madrid. And who celebrated one of his two wins against Thiem (with eight defeats) in madrid. 2018, with 6: 4 and 6: 4 in the final.
Here the single tableau in Madrid
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