ATP Montreal: Dominic Thiem against Marin Cilic and jetlag
Dominic Thiem is in the round of 16 of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal for the first time - and will face two opponents in it. (The match will be available in our live ticker from 6:00 p.m. CET ).
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 08, 2019, 01:29 pm
The Rogers Cup had not yet been worth a trip for Dominic Thiem - until August 7, 2019. Then the Austrian could finally celebrate his first victory in Canada against local hero Denis Shapovalov and move into the round of 16 of Montreal for the first time.
"Every victory in a 1000 event is special because it only goes against really strong opponents. Opponents who are in the first 35 or 40," said Thiem after the match. His next opponent will also come from this region of the world rankings - Marin Cilic is currently number 16 in the ATP charts.
He is one of the best players in recent years.
Dominic Thiem on Marin Cilic
In 2019, however, the Croatian did not go as desired, in the Race to London Cilic is only in 56th place - far too little for the demands of the 30-year-old. Nevertheless, Thiem is warned of the US Open winner of 2014: "He is one of the best players of the past few years and one of the very few - apart from Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal - the one Grand Slam won. "
Thiem is struggling with jet lag
In addition, Cilic is "really good". It is exactly this impact strength that Thiem himself - like in the game against Shapovalov - will need in order to have a chance against the Croat: "Then everything is possible, I think."
Lichtenwörther won the only duel with Cilic in three sets in 2016 in Brisbane. In Montreal, in addition to the 30-year-old, another big opponent is waiting for Thiem: jet lag. "I'm not quite in the time zone yet," admitted the fourth in the world rankings after his opening win. Good for the 25-year-old: The match against Cilic will be the first of the day - from 18:00 CET the two will face each other on the center court.