Australian Open: Dominic Thiem with great difficulty in the third round
Dominic Thiem still lived up to his favorite position in his second round game at the Australian Open : The Austrian defeated local hero Alex Bolt with 6: 2, 5: 7, 6: 7 (5), 6: 1 and 6: 2 and scores on Saturday either on Kevin Anderson or Taylor Fritz.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 23, 2020, 08:31 am
One of the privileges of the top players on the tennis tour is being able to host their matches on the largest courts. At the Australian Open, where there are three covered courts, this means: planning security. And so Dominic Thiem started his game against Alex Bolt on schedule as third of the day at the Melbourne Arena, while the outside seats were not yet ready to play. Australians are privileged to host a Grand Slam tournament at home. And to be able to count on the support of grandstands when in doubt. Bolt knew how to use this perfectly, forcing the favorites over the full distance before Thiem won 6: 2, 5: 7, 6: 7 (5), 6: 1 and 6: 2.
The Austrian could also have had it cheaper: After a confidently won first set, Thiem served 5: 4 in the second to the 2: 0 lead, Bolt managed two breaks in a row, thus equalizing the set. In the third round, Thiem scored two breakballs at 5: 5, had the point on the racket at the first - but the forehand volley was too harmless. The local hero got the subsequent tie-break after Thiem was able to fend off three set balls. Now there was danger.
Thiem is waiting for Anderson or Fritz
Round four went short and painless to Thiem, who had to give up against Alexei Popyrin in round two last year. In the decision in 2020, Bolt had to fight much harder than his opponent in his service games. The logical consequence was an early break for Thiem to 2-1, which he never gave up until the end. Especially since Thiem put up the next break to 4: 1 - which finally destroyed all ambitions for a home win. After 3:22 hours, Thiem scored his first match ball.
Here is the live ticker for reading
The 26-year-old fifth in the world rankings still has to wait for his third-round opponent: Kevin Anderson was once able to enjoy the privileges of a top player, but after a long injury break, the South African has to fight his way back into the ranks of those players who start on the big courts become. Anderson's match against the American Taylor Fritz started due to the circumstances, clearly after the Thiem game.
Here is the single tableau at the Australian Open
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