Australian Open: Dominik Koepfer wins a duel with Dominic Thiem
Dominik Koepfer fought the second round duel with US Open Champion Dominic Thiem in Melbourne.
by SID
last edit: Feb 08, 2021, 10:15 am
The 26-year-old from the Black Forest won the first round of the Australian Open 7: 5, 6: 2, 6: 4 against the Bolivian Hugo Dellien. Shortly before, the world number three Thiem had won after minor teething problems against the Kazakh Michail Kukuschkin 7: 6 (7: 2), 6: 2, 6: 3.
"I just needed a little time to adapt," said the Austrian Thiem and said in view of the fast surface: "I like to have time. The fast place takes it away from me a bit, so it's not perfect."
Stebe is out
Thiem is one of the title candidates for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Last year he was in the final against Melbourne record champion Novak Djokovic (Serbia), whose first round duel against Jeremy Chardy (France) is also on the agenda on Monday. The bookmakers also have Grand Slam record champion Rafael Nadal from Spain on the slip as usual.
However, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (Vaihingen / Enz) had no chance. The 30-year-old, who moved up into the main field as a lucky loser, clearly lost his first round match against Canadian young star Felix Auger-Aliassime (20) with 2: 6, 4: 6, 2: 6.
Here is the individual tableau at the Australian Open 2021
laver arena