Australian Open: Dominic Thiem vs. Alexander Zverev - there are no secrets
Dominic Thiem goes into the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2020 with a 6: 2 record against Alexander Zverev . In the course of the tournament so far, however, the Austrian has had to fight harder than his opponent on Friday (from 09:30 a.m. live on Eurosport, in Austria on ServusTV and in our live ticker).
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 30, 2020, 11:48 am
So Alexander Zverev was sitting in the interview room of the London O2 Arena in mid-November 2019 and assumed that the journalists present had skills that he, the 2018 world champion, would not have: this one overhead ball that played the close semi-final game against Dominic Thiem Had turned in the direction of the Austrian, all reporters would have easily used the point. Zverev himself had nailed the ball out. From the Hamburg-born man's point of view, the match in London went down, also because the margin of error in the best-of-three mode is rather small.
That will be different on Friday when we meet with Thiem in the preliminary round of the Australian Open 2020 (from 09:30 a.m. live on Eurosport, in Austria on ServusTV and in our live ticker). No need to panic if, like Zverev against Stan Wawrinka, you give the first act 1: 6. And also no exaggerated cause for concern if, like Thiem against Alex Bolt, you are even behind with 1: 2 sets.
Thiem is happy for Zverev
Zverev may be the least expected of the four semi-finalists before the tournament, but even with Thiem the preparation for the ATP Cup was not smooth. The Austrian was able to offer convincing routes in all three matches in a playful manner, but it was not enough to beat Diego Schwartzman. As a result, Thiem fell behind Daniil Medvedev in the seed list for the first major of the year - and had to face Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. A task that the 26-year-old from Lower Austria mastered after more than four hours of play.
There have been eight games between Thiem and Zverev so far, the record speaks 6-2 clearly for the two-time French Open finalist. "We know each other," said Thiem late at the press conference after his victory over Nadal. "But it's funny because it will be the first time that I play in a Grand Slam semi-final against someone who is younger than me. I'm happy for him that he plays so well here. We have no secrets from each other. We played against each other so often, even on special occasions like the semi-finals of the ATP finals or the quarter-finals at the French Open. ”
Injured in Roland Garros
The latter is certainly one of the special games in the rivalry between Thiem and Zverev: the German struggled with physical problems right from the start, and the marathon games he had previously had had an effect. In Melbourne 2020, the signs are a little different: Alexander Zverev made it to the semi-finals somewhat stress-free, Dominic Thiem had to work hard several times.
Here is the single tableau in Melbourne
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