Australian Open: Dominic Thiem versus Taylor Fritz again in the third match after 1 a.m.CET
Dominic Thiem will also play his third match at the Australian Open at around 4 a.m.CET (live on Eurosport and in Austria on ServusTV). The venue will be the Margaret Court Arena.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 24, 2020, 07:11 am
Once again Dominic Thiem has to wait for the women: first for the end of the match between Angelique Kerber and Camila Giorgi, then Belinda Bencic and Anett Kontaveit duel before the Austrian number one against Taylor Fritz will serve in the Margaret Court Arena. The American will certainly like the later start time - Fritz left significantly more grains in his comeback success against Kevin Anderson than Thiem in his five-set victory against Alex Bolt.
Thiem and Fritz know each other reasonably well, most recently they met at the Laver Cup in Geneva. Surprisingly, this game has been an official match in the ATP annals since last year, although a match tie-break is played instead of a third set. Fritz decided that for himself, so he wrote it down in the balance sheet with Thiem. However, the two matches with more meaningfulness went to the Austrians: 2017 and 2018 at the US Open.
Dominic Thiem healthy this time at the Australian Open
Since then, Fritz has steadily improved, winning his first title on the ATP tour on grass in Eastbourne in 2019. The conditions in Melbourne are not to be compared, it is said that the major show courts, such as Margaret Court Arena, are playing more slowly than in previous years. Also because the balls open after a few points played like a panicked puffer.
Dominic Thiem showed no panic against Alex Bolt, even when he was 1: 2 behind. Annoying indeed, especially since the Austrian had left several chances for an early decision. But unlike last year, Thiem came to Melbourne this time well, even though the voice in the on-court interview seemed a bit wicked after the win against Bolt.
Whether Fritz will present himself in top shape after the marathon against Anderson could be an exciting question: buddy Tommy Paul had nothing left in the tank two days after his five-set win against Grigor Dimitrov , lost to Marton Fucsovics in three sentences without a chance ,