ATP Masters Rome: Dominic Thiem starts from an unusual position - as Austria's number three!
Dominic Thiem is entering the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome today against Fabio Fognini (from 7 p.m. live on Sky and in our live ticker). He does this from an unfamiliar position, namely as Austria's number three.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 09, 2022, 08:20 am
The Spanish sword of Damocles has been hanging over Dominic Thiem's head for weeks, the 360 points that the Austrian would have had to defend for participation in the semifinals in 2021 were quickly written off after the first round defeat against Andy Murray. The relapse in the ATP world rankings was thus sealed, Thiem is currently only in position 162 on Monday. As the third best Austrian behind Jurij Rodionov (number 130) and Dennis Novak (140).
skyrom2022
Murray encouraged his inferior opponent in Madrid after the match point, a return to the front would take time, but it would certainly work in the case of Dominic Thiem. Andy Murray himself showed the way - after a long injury break with uncertain prospects of a comeback, the Scot is currently back in 69th place in the ATP charts. In addition, the borders are fluid in Thiem's current table region: one or two victories in larger events, and it's already heading towards the double digits again.
Fognini only fifth best Italian
This Monday evening, for example, Dominic Thiem has 45 points for the ATP world rankings. It's against Fabio Fognini (from 7 p.m. live on Sky and in our live ticker), the grandiose and moody local hero, with whom Thiem also has at least a friendly relationship. The two played the Laver Cup together in Geneva in 2019, and then made a double appearance in Beijing. Fognini, now 34 years old, hasn't played the stars from the sky yet this year, but he did reach the semi-finals in Rio de Janeiro (loss to Carlos Alcaraz) and Belgrade (loss to Andrey Rublev).
The record speaks for Dominic Thiem, three of four matches went to the Lower Austrian. The only victory, however, was Fognini in the Foro Italico, almost exactly four years ago. According to the world rankings, Fognini is even the favorite in the game as 56th. How well Italian tennis is set up is shown by the fact that the veteran is only the fifth-best player in his country with this placement: after Matteo Berrettini (8), Jannik Sinner (13), Lorenzo Sonego (28) and Lorenzo Musetti (51 ).
Here the single tableau in Rome
rommap