Dominic Thiem can go into the match against Andrey Rublev relaxed
For the second time in a row, Dominic Thiem has already reached the semifinals after his second group game at the ATP Finals in London. The number three in the world beat Stefanos Tsitsipas at the beginning and was followed by a match success over Rafael Nadal.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Nov 18, 2020, 09:29 pm
It was the sixth victory over the 20-time Grand Slam winner. Andrey Rublev, who has lost his previous two games, is waiting on Thursday afternoon (from 3 p.m. in the live ticker).
After defeating Nadal, Thiem spoke of a match "where almost everything worked out". The level of both players was high, Thiem prevailed in two sets in the tiebreaker. The 27-year-old speaks of a game against Rublev "completely without pressure", after all, it is about 200 points for the ATP rankings and 215,000 US dollars in prize money.
"And then full focus on the semifinals on Saturday," Thiem is already looking at the semifinals. There it may be against Novak Djokovic. Should Thiem win his group, he will play against the runners-up from the parallel pool. If Thiem is second, he will meet the group winner. As many matches as possible against the "big three", Thiem wants that anyway.
ATP season exhausting
"Every match against them is a huge thing. I'm just happy that I can still play against them because they are the three best players of all time. Every single win is really important for self-confidence and a huge learning matter for my game. I hope I still have a lot of duels against her, "said Thiem on Wednesday.
The quality of the games in this "Masters" is better than in some of the previous season finals. "Physically everyone, including me, are much fresher and much healthier than in recent years, because there was just such a long break in the middle of the season," Thiem found a reason for this. The safety bubble in corona times is "draining". "No fresh air all day, but the tournament is still really great. Of course, it is also important for the TV viewers, who are certainly going through a difficult time, that we put on a good show. Therefore everyone will certainly give everything as long as they can because the tournament is in. "
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