ATP Montreal: Dominic Thiem defeats Marin Cilic and moves on to the quarter-finals
Dominic Thiem is in the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal. The Austrian defeated Marin Cilic 7: 6 (7) and 6: 4. ( The match can be found in the live ticker ).
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 08, 2019, 08:23 pm
Confidence. A much-quoted and often overused word that, especially in sports, still makes the difference between victory and defeat. Seen this way also in the round of 16 match of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal between Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic.
While the Austrian traveled to Canada full of confidence after winning the tournament in Kitzbühel, the Croatian is still looking for his top form in 2019. In the Race to London, the 2014 US Open winner was only in 56th place.
Thiem uses third set ball
The freshly won self-confidence of the Lichtenwörther could already be seen in the second round match against Denis Shapovalov and also in the game against Cilic Thiem struck at the decisive moment. The Austrian used his third set ball for 9: 7 in the tie-break - overall, the 25-year-old won in this round only one point more than his opponent.
The world ranking-16. seemed a bit broken and gave up the serve in the second round to 2-1. Thiem transported this advantage primarily thanks to an improved service in the second section across the finish line. It was only in the last service game that Cilic had two more chances to break. However, Thiem was able to fend off both (like all nine in the match) and shortly afterwards converted his fourth match ball.
After the 7: 6 (7) and 6: 4 success, the Lower Austrian is in the quarterfinals against Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Cristian Garin 6: 3 and 6: 3. Against the Russians, the fourth in the world rankings leads 2-0 in head to head. The last duel won Thiem clearly in two sets in the Barcelona final.